You can trick your brain into using your phone less

Reduce mobile phone dependence: A practical guide to gradually quitting mobile phone addiction

(This article has been updated, the original text was published on September 24, 2018)

Even if silent, your phone is always competing for your attention. You may not help but want to check out the news on Facebook, even if you just checked it 15 minutes ago. Or you feel your phone vibrating in your pocket, but you end up having nothing. Our smartphones are becoming more and more like an attachment we can’t leave. Here are how to gradually reduce dependency on your phone, at least a little less.

Why are we so addicted to mobile phones

Larry Rosen, a psychology professor, is the author of The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World. This phenomenon has been studied for years. He said a typical young man unlocks his phone more than 70 times a day, checking each time for 3 to 4 minutes, and then repeats the same process about 10 minutes later.

"They mainly look at things related to communication," he said. "Once we get into social media sites, we feel like there is a ‘social responsibility’ to check and reply. They are forced to use these sites because all their friends are on it."

Therefore, the research found that the longer we use technology, the greater the negative impact. Our behavior can lead to symptoms ranging from anxiety to stress to sleep disorders, not to mention dangerous walking habits. And the application on your phone is designed in this way. Rosen said: "The companies that create these applications have a vested interest in your use. They hire psychologists and behavioral scientists to help them figure out the best way to catch your eye and keep it there. They are very good at this. ”

This means that when you want to disconnect, you are always fighting a situation that is not good for you. However, there are ways to make the task less painful.

Gradually reduce the use of mobile phones

Rosen said: "First, you can't quit suddenly. Putting your phone on the weekend seems like a simple solution, but it only makes you very anxious."

He saw this again and again in the lab: If people receive text messages but they are not allowed to touch their phones, their skin electrostatic reactions will soar, indicating an anxiety reaction. This stomach-inducing feeling occurs in severe and moderate users of the phone. You may be familiar with this, if you don't know, you can see Anderson Cooper's demo on this 60 Minutes show.

Rosen recommends a systematic desensitization method rather than discarding your phone completely, which is to gradually reduce the impact of your phone exposure.

[Related: The best way to reduce screen time for all devices]

"I usually tell people to start from 15 minutes," he said. "See your phone or computer, then mute the phone and set the alarm for 15 minutes. Put it in front of you, face down so you don't see any notifications." Rosen said, putting it in front of you, putting it in front of you, facing down so you don't see any notifications." Your line of sight is key – this will signal your brain and you don’t need to feel anxious because the device is still within reach.

Then, when the 15-minute alarm clock rings, you can check your phone at will for up to one minute. Repeat the process until you no longer want to check it—when the alarm goes off, but you say to yourself “No, I’m busy now, watch it later.”

Once you mastered for 15 minutes, you can increase to 20 minutes, and so on. “I encourage people to view at least every 30 minutes because that reduces typical 15-minute behavior in half.” It would be even better if you can do that every hour of email.

However, Rosen does recommend that there is a time period that completely avoids using your phone: at night. "Put your phone away half an hour before bed," he said. “For decades, this is a standard recommendation from the National Sleep Foundation.” Blue light can disrupt your circadian rhythm, so avoiding blue light half an hour before bed can help melatonin secretion and make it easier for you to fall asleep. If you have to use it, turn down the brightness and enable Night Mode. But if you can put it outside the bedroom and avoid activate your brain due to social responsibility, that's ideal.

Make your phone less attractive

It's much harder to quit this urge than it sounds, but Rosen says you can help yourself by making your phone less attractive. First, it's obvious: Close as many notifications and reminder badges as possible. “You can reserve reminders for special people like your parents or spouse, but close the notice from everyone else,” he said.

But this is only a small part of the battle. According to Rosen's research, you check your phone for half the time, without notifications will drive your impulse. You just want to see the time (if you use your phone as a clock, you may be able to reduce the number of views by getting a good non-smartwatch) or use a view to eliminate that desire for “social responsibility”.

Rosen said: "I told people to put each social media app icon in a folder." He didn't mean that all apps were placed in a folder. He refers to a separate folder for each application, which doubles the number of clicks required to access any application. “And then move all these folders to your last screen,” he said. This may sound silly, but skipping obstacles to accessing your app can reduce impulsive viewing. “It will have to work hard to get there,” Rosen said.

[Related: What to do if your iPhone home screen disappears]

If that's not enough, you can completely remove social media apps and use their mobile website instead. This forces you to enter a URL and use (usually) suboptimal websites instead of a more streamlined application. You can even block cookies in your browser, which forces you to log in every time (here is how to do it on iPhone and Android). The more obstacles you set between you and the service, the more time you will have to rethink access to that feed first.

Former Google designer Tristan Harris even suggested setting your phone to grayscale mode, which will dim the bright colors designed to attract you. Rosen said he hasn't studied the effectiveness of this popular technique yet, but a colleague hopes it will be done soon.

Try it yourself. On your iPhone, go to Settings>Accessibility function>Accessibility shortcut key and click Color filter Mirror. Then, you can click the side button three times (or if you have one, click the Home button ) and touch the Color filter to turn gray on and off degree mode. On Android, this process varies from phone to phone, but these instructions should guide you in the right direction.

Lastly, if you are a person who responds well to self-conversation, try using these lock screen wallpapers that try to convince you to put down your phone. When you just turn on your phone to "view", your lock screen will remind you that there may be nothing important behind it—except for meaningless Facebook likes—and this awareness can be very relief.

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