How to reduce your screen time on your phone
Not with bans but with friction: the most effective way to put the phone down is to make it just a little bit of a hassle. Seven concrete steps that work.
Trusting willpower in the struggle with screen time is a lost battle โ those apps are designed to hold your attention and they do the job well. The approach that works is this: making the phone just a little bit of a hassle to use. Even a small amount of friction breaks the "I opened it without noticing" loop.
You don't have to do all of the steps below at once; even two or three of them make a clear difference. The aim is not to give up the phone but to turn it back into a tool that is used when you want to.
- Time20 minutes of setup
- DifficultyEasy
- Steps7
๐งฐ What you need
- Your phone's settings menu
Steps
- Measure firstSettings โ Screen Time (iPhone) or Digital Wellbeing (Android). For most people, seeing the real number is a wake-up call in itself.
- Prune the notificationsTurn off notifications for everything except messaging and calls. A social media notification isn't there for you, it is there for the app's return rate.
- Make the screen colorlessTurn on grayscale (in the accessibility settings). A colorless feed is surprisingly boring โ once the brain gets no reward, it gives up.
- Take the time-consuming apps off the home screenYou don't have to delete them; bury the icon deep enough that it can only be opened through search. Those three seconds of hassle in between break the automatic opening.
- Set an app limitGive the social apps a daily limit in the screen time settings. Hitting the limit is a reminder too: 'you have looked enough today.'
- Don't let it into the bedroomLet it charge overnight in another room; buy an alarm clock. The half hour before sleep and the first half hour after waking up are the most valuable time there is to win back.
- Fill the gapWhen the phone takes up less time, put something into the time that is left: a book, a walk โ or come and join our chat; talking to people beats a feed ๐
โ This guide is general information. Yudum cannot be held responsible for the outcome of following it; for official procedures always rely on the institution's own statement. Steps and fees change over time.
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