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Scrolling is the new smoking.
While cigarette smoking has been on a steady decline for the last decades, a new addiction has sneaked into many of our lives. As with tobacco, we have slowly began to understand the harms of phone addiction. This article tells you more about this phenomenon and also gives tools to fight it.
When the first iPhone was unveiled in 2007 in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the device as a phone, iPod and an internet communicator. Not as a device to prolong your snap streaks or hunt for likes on Instagram. Of course, those concepts were not even seen the light of day at that time. Such attention-capturing aspects of smart phones really only started to creep in after Apple´s App Store was launched in 2008.
Instagram followed in October 2010, Snapchat respectively in September 2011. Monetization of such kind of apps is based on the time users´ spend on them. In that sense, it isn´t the biggest surprise why on many parts developers use the same techniques that are used on gamblers to keep them hooked on to a casino as long as possible. When knowing such aspects, it seems pretty understandable why many people behind these technologies limit their use with their own children.
Ok, got it. Phones and apps can be addictive. But to what extent this is a problem? Below we have compiled few statistics to turn this topic into numbers. All of us like them, right?
Sources: Counterpoint, Business Insider, Reviews.org
When going through such data, it may be easier to agree with the often-heard notion of people having shorter attention span than that of a goldfish. A study made by Microsoft in 2015 concluded that our average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to eight seconds on the time of study. And it has already been over half a decade since that study was carried. With the recent rise of TikTok generation, some could argue the span hasn´t lengthened, to say the least.
Are you on the verge of considering you could have a problem with your device? You can get a better idea by taking a test such as this created by The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction. Additionally, you may look into the details your phone provides about your usage (more about this later). Do you now feel you want to make a change and want to spend less time on your phone? Next, we are going to go through a number of tactics that can get the control back of your device.
You can´t manage what you can´t measure.
Minutes and times spent on your phone creep insidiously. You can easily keep track of the total time spent by activating dedicated functionality on your phone. iOS natively carries a feature called Screentime. It can tell you how much time you spend, on an app by app basis, as well as how many times you have raised your phone. If you have multiple devices on the same account, it can also aggravate the total screentime together.
You can turn on Screen Time by going through the following path: Settings -> Screen Time.
You can also add daily usage limits for your apps in trying to limit your phone usage. On iOS you can easily do this by going to Screen Time settings and selecting App Limits. There you can implement specific limits for each app. There´s also an option to set individual allowances based on the weekday if you feel you want bit of a slack for the weekend.
It´s not a coincidence many apps use a sparkling color palette. Large part for the lively colors are their attention-captivating effect on us. One way to combat this is to enable black and white mode on your phone.
On iOS, you can enable it by following this route: Settings -> Accessibility ->Accessibility Shortcut -> Colour Filters
Based on the study made by the UC Irvine, on average it takes over 20 minutes to refocus after a distraction. Combine that with the average of 80 notifications per day and you´re in for a real treat. Some productivity gurus such as Tim Ferriss use an airplane mode on their phone to counter this. Less hardcore version of an airplane mode is to turn off notifications for specific apps.
On iOS, you can control notification by following this route: Settings -> Notifications
Did you know that on average we people make 35 000 decisions per day? Just having addicting app on your phone can take your number up as you consciously or subconsiously have to resist the urge to scroll through the latest content. This adds to your decision fatigue and prevents you from making decisions on those matters that are way more important for your day. Way to fight this urge is to delete the app from your phone and to perhaps only use the given platform on your computer. If this is not enough, delete your account for that platform alltogether.
As they say, “Out of sight, out of mind”. Move your phone to other end of your apartment. Even better if you lay it down behind the doors of your closet. First, as you don´t see it you end up thinking about it less. Secondly, when you get the twitch to grab your phone, those precious seconds in between reaching it may add just enough hindrance to keep you away from the glowing screen. As for many wonderful things in life, there´s also scientific data to back up this technique.
In 1972, researchers at Stanford conducted an experiment where they left kids with a marshmallow, while being told that if they would not eat the marshmallow in ten minutes, they would get a second one. One third of the kids managed to not eat the sweet within those ten minutes. How? It was found out that those that succeeded did everything they could to take that marshmallow out of their mind in front of them ia. by covering their eyes. So instead of having to use brute willpower to resist the temptation, they removed it.
One stronger alternative to the closet method is to use kSafe. This clever plastic box helps you to conserve your willpower by literally locking your device from you for a predefined time period.
kSafe is a very simple but an effective solution to combat addiction: a plastic container with a time-lockable lid. Featured on Shark Tank.
Below we have listed a few minimalist phones that could further help you reduce your screen time and distractions. Also sometimes called as dumb phones, these devices are primaly designed with only the essentials in mind, i.a. calling and texting. And ultimately, may help you move the “smart” part from your palm back to your brain.
Light Phone II is a second iteration of the Light Phone released back in 2017. Main design principle? To be used as little as possible.
Mudita Pure is a minimalist feature phone and a winner of multiple design awards. Its features include i.a. eyefriendly E Ink display and long-lasting replaceable battery. The phone also has an ultra low SAR value.
Originating from Switzerland, Punkt MP02 phone has a solid construction and is splashproof to IP52 standard. MP02 also supports the Signal messaging protocol, and can be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot.
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