Stop scrolling your day away

Have you ever picked up your phone to look at social media “for a minute,” only to realize 30 minutes or an hour — or more — has passed?

“There’s a dulling of our senses when we’re passive in front of that much constant content. It leads us away from other pursuits with more cognitive potential and creativity,” says UNC Health psychiatrist Dr. Nadia Charguia.

If you think you’re losing too many hours and too many brain cells to your algorithm, here are five tips to reduce your screen time.

1. Pay attention to when you reach for your phone.

“Scrolling has become an automatic habit for us, and we often do it without intending to,” Charguia says. “Take a step back and try to understand why. Look at what might be driving you to seek out the phone rather than something else.”

Maybe you’re postponing getting up or trying to wind down or avoiding a chore. Having awareness of when you might be losing the most time out of your day can help you create a plan to preserve it.

2. Create barriers to change your patterns.

“You can create barriers once you understand when you’re most likely to use your phone,” Dr. Charguia says. “Put it in another room at times when you know you have triggers that lead to using it.”

Start small: Ask everyone in your family to put their phone in another room during dinner. At work, try to find 30 minutes or an hour for focused work time with no phone next to your computer. When it’s inconvenient to reach for your phone, you may start to do it less.

3. Check your settings and notifications.

Your phone and its apps have many ways to grab your attention. “Remove those external motivations to reach for your phone,” Charguia says. “Turn off the notifications, and disconnect alerts or reminders that go to other devices, such as your watch or Fitbit.”

Use phone settings that allow you to set a timer or limits for how long you use an app. Try putting your phone in “focus” or “do not disturb” mode.

4. Aim to cut back on your screen time, not stop immediately.

Deleting all social media won’t work for most people. “Start by reducing your screen time by an hour, and see if you can make it at least two weeks at that reduced state before setting another goal,” Charguia says.

It takes more than two months to create new behaviors or habits, Charguia says. “These apps have the potential to be addictive, so it will take time for a new habit to be created.”

5. Replace phone time with a specific activity.

“Rather than being strictly focused on what we are no longer wanting to do, it is beneficial to envision what we hope to do instead,” Charguia says. Create a new morning ritual of reading a book while savoring a cup of coffee. Try a 10-minute walk after work instead of scrolling.

“Sub in something else so that you’re not looking at an empty hand,” Charguia says. If you’ve become accustomed to multitasking — drinking coffee or watching television while scrolling —it may be uncomfortable at first to focus on just one thing, but your brain will adjust.

“We live in such a fast-paced world, with so much constant distraction, that being alone with yourself can feel under-stimulating or even intimidating,” she says. “We can all get to a place of calm without that extra stimulus. You’ll feel less stress. You’ll see the benefits of having more time for your hobbies and the knowledge that you’re in control of your time.”

Read more tips at UNC Health Talk.