TL;DR: In four weeks, I’ve cut my average screen time from 8 hours and 55 minutes to 1 hour and 28 minutes on average.
I know no one cares about this, but I still wanted to share it here just in case someone is facing the same problem and looking for motivation.
I recently finished my semester and got a summer break. My girlfriend and I planned our first big trip abroad, something we’d been looking forward to for more than a year. But after getting free from studies and exams, I got addicted to my phone, spending hours scrolling social media. My addiction started to ruin our plans and our excitement for the trip.
More than a month ago, my girlfriend spent a weekend finding resources to help me. She found an article with practical methods for different levels of phone addiction. Inspired by her effort, I decided to give it a shot.
Week 1 saw my screen time drop to 7 hours and 35 minutes on average, which made me very happy because I never thought anything would help me with my phone addiction. Even though I started with no hope, seeing this result gave me hope.
Week 2 brought it down further to 5 hours and 12 minutes on average. The key was a fun challenge my girlfriend and I did together to stay off our phones. Having her as my support system made everything so much easier.
In Week 3, I tried a $23 timed locker my girlfriend got from Amazon. It worked wonders, cutting my late-night screen time and improving my sleep. I ended the week with an average of 4 hours and 3 minutes on average. Despite a slight setback over the weekend due to feeling down, I’m happy with my progress, even though it was very little.
In the last week of this challenge, I kept up the same habits but added a new twist suggested by my girlfriend. We signed up for swimming classes and started going daily because we always wanted to learn swimming. It’s been fun, and I’m loving every second of it. I also started locking my phone for an hour in the morning using the timed locker. This helped me bring down my screen time to 1 hour and 28 minutes. While my initial goal was 1 hour or less, I’m proud of myself with my progress.
Honestly, I couldn’t have achieved this without my girlfriend’s support. I’m incredibly grateful to have her in my life. Dating her was the best decision I’ve ever made. I want to write a big thank-you paragraph here, but I don’t want to bore anyone.
Here is my screen time screenshot before I started: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JQVQaI1q7xgLUpojzx6osRci8zwwGWoJ/view?usp=sharing
Here is my screen time screenshot from the previous week: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TjBWCJyLDX29fdgdaq-UJ21X3osVcBhx/view?usp=sharing
Kinda facing the same issue, how did you reduce your screen time? Any tips are appreciated 🙏
I recommend you read the same article that has helped me. Overcoming addiction is difficult, so please don’t give up. Here is the link: A Practical Guide to Overcoming Phone Addiction
read the post. social support and worthy distraction. engagement and activity. replacing an addictive behavior with something meaningful, valuable, fulfilling.
Cool and all… But why did you have to post this over and over in a gajillion subs?
I’ve posted it in multiple communities because I wanted to inspire as many people as possible. Phone addiction has literally destroyed my life in the last few months, and I don’t want anyone else to go through what I’ve been through.
I know no one cares about this, but […]
That’s where your wrong! That was a hopeful/informative/useful/entertaining post to read. Thank you for sharing.
I don’t know what my own number is, but I can definitely get sucked into my phone, especially when I’m stressed or otherwise at a loose end. It sucks when you realised you’ve been scrolling for too long (subjective) and you haven’t accomplished anything, or even enjoyed yourself, but yet you… keep… scrolling…! It’s a rotten feeling.
Congratulations to you and your girlfriend. Real great effort from both of you. You should feel very proud of your accomplishments.
Thank you very much for your beautiful comment.
Was the juice worth the squeeze?
Why this reference? Here? Why now? What does it all mean?
No idea. I just mean “was it worth the effort.”. The phrase itself is older than dirt.
