Smartphones and social networks are taking up more and more of our free time. To get away from it in part, there are some very simple techniques that anyone can easily put into practice.
Little by little doubt begins to set in. For several months now, many have considered that the combination of social networks and the smartphone is not really beneficial to our health. By playing on the reward circuits, they would create an addiction as important as certain drugs. Faced with these compulsive uses, several players have started raising awareness.
In December 2017, Mark Zuckerberg was starting to become aware of the problem, before announcing several changes to the News Feed, encouraging users to interact with their friends rather than being passive. Last January, Apple shareholders published an open letter asking the American giant to look into the problem of children’s iPhone addiction.
How to spend your time well
Finally, even more recently, former Facebook and Google employees have gone to war against overexposure to screens and have organized themselves around the Center for Humane Technology. The latter is the legacy of Time Well Spent, an initiative created following a December 2014 TED talk given by Tristan Harris. This former Google employee, now executive director of the organization, did not hesitate, during this conference, to compare our smartphones to slot machines.
Microsoft researchers estimated that it took 23 minutes to focus again on the task that was performed before being disturbed by a notification. Worse, we even tend to reproduce this behavior and interrupt the work on which we are ourselves, without any external intervention. Under these conditions, how can you regain control of your daily life and no longer be a slave to your smartphone? Several concrete actions exist and make it possible to gradually get rid of it so that it is once again at our service and no longer the other way around.
1. Better manage your notifications
This is certainly the most important piece of advice, the sinews of the distraction war. Instead of accepting notifications from all the apps installed on your smartphone, learn how to manage them differently. First, turn off the notifications sent automatically by apps. This can also be done with social networks which tend to notify you of the slightest like from one of your friends.
If you’re really worried about missing an important message, just keep notifications from messaging apps, those sent by real humans who want to contact you, not machines. You can also just display the notification on the screen, without activating the ringtone or vibrate. This will prevent you from taking your smartphone out of your pocket or bag every two seconds. Finally, stop displaying the colored dot next to the application icon (which indicates an unread notification) which instantly triggers the desire to consult it.
2. Buy a watch
In 2014, a study by the Tecmark agency estimated that we consulted our smartphone 221 times a day. And a not insignificant part of these consultations is just looking at the time. But once your eyes are on your screen, it’s hard not to quickly consult social networks and messaging, “just in case”. A simple watch on his wrist can already do without these unnecessary consultations. And if you choose a connected watch to take advantage of the activity measurement functions, refer to point number 1 to avoid having to undergo notifications on your wrist rather than on your smartphone.
3. Hide your apps (or make them less attractive)
When you unlock your smartphone, you are inevitably drawn to the icons that are on the home screen. To no longer be distracted, it is better to store them in a folder on iOS or leave them in the Android application drawer. We then keep within sight only utility applications such as the calendar, Google Maps, access to smartphone settings, the camera, a weather app or even that of his bank. To start the others, make sure you search for them by name in the dedicated tool on your smartphone.
Another tip: Colors make app icons more attractive. So don’t hesitate to switch the display of your smartphone to grayscale. This will prevent your eye from being drawn to the flashy yellow of Snapchat or the multicolored icon of Instagram. On iOS, go to Settings> General> Accessibility> Adapt display> Color filters> Grayscale.
On Android, the option is even better hidden. In settings, go to “About phone”, then tap “Build number” several times in a row to activate “Developer options”. Go back in the settings, this new item will be displayed at the bottom of the menu. There, scroll down to “Simulate color space” and choose “Monochromatism”. This manipulation may vary depending on the manufacturer, at Samsung the build number is called “version number” found in “About the phone” then “software info”.
4. Buy an alarm clock and sleep away from your smartphone
The alarm clock will allow you to do without your smartphone to get out of bed in the morning. Don’t leave it on the nightstand, instead charge it in your living room or anywhere else out of reach. You will go to bed reading a book instead, and you won’t be tempted to glance at your smartphone if you wake up at night.
5. What if none of this works?
Well just uninstall all social media apps from your device. Apart from Snapchat, they are ultimately all viewable from any computer. Radical, but very effective.