How To Improve Your Digital Wellness
Your smartphone can often feel like a lifeline, like something you need to get through your day. But when it comes to your digital wellness, your phone can sometimes feel like a distraction that prevents you from being present. So how do you ensure that you balance your use of technology with other parts of your life? Here are some tips on how to reduce screen time and improve your digital wellness.
1. Be mindful
Start thinking about why you are looking at your phone, when you have it in your hand. Ask yourself: Why did I pick up my phone? Am I doing what I planned on doing or have I gotten lost in social media or a game? Paying attention to your habits will help you break them.
2. Create phone-free moments
Make rules for yourself about when you can use your phone—and stick to them. Maybe the dining table and bedroom are phone-free zones. Try to get your family or the people you live with involved to reduce the temptation to break the rules.
3. Silence or do not disturb
Turn off all vibration notifications and simply silence your phone when you’re not actively using it. Or use your phone’s Do Not Disturb settings to keep distractions at bay. These settings can often be customized to allow calls from certain contacts, or from people who call multiple times, so you won’t miss urgent matters.
4. Turn off notifications
Now that your ringer has been handled, take a look at your app notifications and turn off as many of those as you can.
5. Use mindful—and simple—wallpapers
Your phone shouldn’t look like a toy. Changing your colourful wallpaper and home screen to something serene, mindful and simple may help make it less distracting. Search “mindful phone wallpaper” for downloadable options.
6. Hide your apps
What if when you opened your phone, you didn’t see any apps, only a serene wallpaper? You’d probably spend less time on your phone. Move all of your apps off the home screen and put the ones you have into folders to make access more difficult.
7. Hide your phone
Want to disconnect from technology? Simply put your phone where you can’t see it. Out of sight, out of mind.
8. Mindfulness and phone usage apps
Download apps that can lend a hand. From meditation and mindfulness apps that help you be more productive when you open your device to phone usage apps designed to break bad habits and reduce screen time, there are plenty of tools available to help you reach your goal. Don’t be afraid to use them.
The above content is intended only to provide a summary and general overview on matters of interest and is not a substitute for, and should not be construed as the advice of an experienced professional. The Mobile ShopTM does not guarantee the currency, accuracy, applicability or completeness of this content.
