Kick Your Smartphone Addiction Starting NOW

Most of us can’t go an entire day without checking our phones and logging onto some form of social media. Having a smartphone is our connection to others and the rest of the world – we use it to call people, text, check in via social media, take pictures and video, work from it, manage our task list, even bank with it – and if we lost our phones, do you know how to function without it?

We carry our phones in our pockets; it’s always in our hands, in our car’s console, at our bedside, even in the bathroom with us. Why wouldn’t it be? We have immediate access to everything in our lives – our email, friends, family, pictures, news, and information. But at what cost is this instantaneous access affecting our lives and those around us? What about how we parent and how our kids see us? Are we engaged or disengaged?

Smartphone addiction is a real, legit thing. It can lead to symptoms such as disrupted attention, poor focus, and early symptoms of dementia and short term memory loss, reported by the Gazzaley lab at UCSF.

Here is your 7-Day Smartphone Detox Plan. This WILL transform your smartphone dependency so you can start living a more fulfilling and engaged life.

 

DAY ONE
Clean up your social media – unfollow people that aren’t your friends or who you haven’t spoken to in years. Unsubscribe from groups and spam or useless lists and delete apps that you don’t use, are a total time suck or you spend too much money buying items from.

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DAY TWO
Turn Off Push Notifications – no pop-up notifications, no beeping, no vibrating, nothing!

Next, put any apps you’ve chosen to keep but are a time suck (Facebook, IG, etc.) in a temporary folder on the second or third screen of your phone so they’re out-of-sight. When you open your phone to answer a call or text, they won’t be visible and tempting to get onto.

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DAY THREE
This may seem like a no-brainer, but stop using your phone in your car. Keep it in your purse or the center console and don’t be temped to call, text or check out something while you’re at a traffic stop. 

When you are dining, do not take our your phone. Keep it in your purse or pants pocket. Do not set your phone on the table. First off, it’s rude and secondly, you don’t need it.

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DAY FOUR
Set four hours of time out of your day – morning, afternoon or evening – to put your phone away and on silent, and do not use it.

One quick solution? When you get up in the morning, don’t touch your phone until lunchtime.

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DAY FIVE
When you get home, turn your phone off and don’t turn it back on until the next day. Keep your phone charging in a place that’s not in your bedroom or living room where you may be tempted to turn it back on.

If you’re home with your family, everyone you love and need is right there in front of you. You don’t need to have your phone on!

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DAY SIX
Take the entire day off from checking, posting or replying to any social media. Do not play any games either!

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DAY SEVEN
Turn off your phone for an entire day.

 

Going through a smartphone detox, you may have symptoms of anxiety as well as frustration. Smartphone addiction is a real thing – as sad as that is to say – but once you make it through the need to always be attached to your phone, there is a significant feeling of freedom and awareness to the extra amount of time you have to do other things or pursue outside interests.

WHAT NOW?
When you get to day eight, go back to setting aside 2-4 hours each day to turn off your phone, or put it on silent and ignore it for a large chunk of time. Once a week, be intentional about turning off your phone for an entire day and embracing time with your family and friends or to do something haven’t been able to find the time for.

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