Are you Cell Phone distracted? Here are 10 tips to help you break free.

Do you look at your cell phone when it isn’t ringing or even notifying you? Are you in class or at work but checking Instagram every few minutes, not focusing on your tasks? You are Cell Phone Distracted. Cell phone distraction can be very harmful to your relationships, your productivity, and long-term mental health. Here are 10 tips to help your break free.

#1 Put Your Cell Phone On An “Old Person’s” Schedule

You might have heard this one before, but have you ever put it in practice? For instance, turn your ringtone down throughout the evening and nighttime hours. Keep calls limited to family or emergency purposes only. The fewer distractions by cell phones there are at night time the better off your sleeping pattern will be!

#2 Make Cell Phone Limits And Boundaries

Families and friends need to set the rules for cell phones in their homes. Create household rules on when it is okay to use your phone. A good rule of thumb would be “no phones at the dinner table.” Or no phones in bedrooms after 9:30 pm. Cell phones are great, but they are not more important than real human interaction!

#3 Take Long Walks Without Cellphones To Recharge

Taking walks without distraction will help clear your mind and help boost creativity. This will give you many more opportunities for focused attention while getting fresh air. Try turning off all electronics while walking so that you can relax and recharge yourself!

#4 Set A Cell Phone Limitation

Try only checking your phone 3 to 4 times a day. Cell phone addiction is dependent on how many times a person looks at their phone each day. Setting a limit on how often you check your cell phone will help reduce distraction and increase productivity. It’s not using your phone that is the issue, it is the frequency.

#5 Cell Phone “Free” Days

Take a day every week to not use your cell phone under any circumstances. It will also give you the opportunity to feel what it really is like to not have access to all of your technology, and it can even be freeing!

#6 Acknowledge your FOMO

Fear of missing out is what compels so many of us to obsess on our phone notifications and updates. But practice asking yourself this question, “What is the real consequence of seeing and engaging with this content a little while later?” Will it make any difference at all? Then practice going longer and longer times between checking up on our phone notifications.

#7 Screenshot inspiration

Save inspiring quotes from books, articles or lectures on social media to remind yourself what life can look like when lived outside of the constant need for updates and notifications. That way when you feel that old familiar pull towards your device and its comforts and distractions (and you will), scrolling through these pictures and words we’ve saved for ourselves will help bring us back into clarity.

#8 Clean up your background screen

Many times our home screens can be a jumble of apps. Sometimes we’re unsure which app to open up first. Our phone becomes a big distraction of options and it becomes easy for us to pull ourselves into a black hole on our phones. Clean your background screen so that you only have one or two applications that provide the functions that are most important to you (e.g. music, calendar). And use a pleasant, simple, background screen to keep distractions down as well.

#9 Log out of distracting apps

This is a simple task that you might not think to do. Many times we find ourselves scrolling through our phone and opening up an app, and it asks us if we want to keep the app open or log in to our account (Facebook, Instagram). Click no! This way, you have to log in every time you open the app, and it will take more effort to browse through your accounts. In addition, if you have a friend that is constantly pulling you into their black hole on these apps, just get rid of them! This way they can’t pull you in anymore.

#10 Practice mindfulness

There are some very good mindfulness apps you can use to help you meditate, breathe, relax, and ultimately be present. This may seem contradictory by telling you to use an app on your phone. But learning and practicing mindfulness can be beneficial to every area of your life, including your phone distractions. It teaches us to let go of other distractions, and be at peace with being still.

If these were helpful, let me know. If you have some more tips and suggestions please share them in the comment section below!