How To Improve Your Smartphone Usage: 4 Simple Tips

Do you find yourself spending way too much time on your mobile phone throughout the day? If so, you’re not the only one.

You might pick your phone up intending to check the time or set an alarm. But before you know it, you’re waist-deep in social media, selfies, and conversations with friends.

In the moment, you might not think twice about the time you spend on your phone. But pretty quickly, you’ll start to notice how much of your day it takes up. The time you could use to be productive and work towards your goals instead goes towards scrolling through app after app.

The good news is that it’s never too late to change and improve your habits. Here are 4 simple tips to help you decrease your screen time and begin better habits.

Track Your Screen Time

You can’t decrease your screen time and complete your tasks if you don’t know where the baseline is. If you haven’t already tracked your screen time, you might feel a bit scared to do so. But this is essential if you’re going to improve and make better use of your time.

Most smartphones have built-in apps that tell you how much time you spend on your phone, what apps you use the most, and for how long. You can use this as a tool to ensure you spend your time productively and stick to your scheduling goals.

It’s important not to cut off social media and other apps cold turkey. If you want to successfully decrease your phone time, you need to do it slowly. Instead of deleting your apps right away, practice setting timers so you can track how much you spend on each application. Then, you can decrease little by little each week.

Use Do Not Disturb Mode

When you receive a notification on your phone, it’s more tempting to check it right away. It’s important not to check notifications the moment they pop up so they become easier to ignore.

An easy way to do this is to disable notifications for as long as you need to be productive. This is also called Do Not Disturb mode and is on both iPhone and Android devices. When you turn on Do Not Disturb, calls, texts, alerts, and app notifications are silenced. You can schedule Do Not Disturb mode for specific hours so you don’t have to manually set it every day.

It’s easier to improve personal growth and achieve your goals when you understand that time is invaluable. You can’t get back the time you spend digesting information about other people’s lives. Instead, you should use that time to work on yourself and become the best version possible.

Explore Your Hobbies

When you don’t waste several hours a day on your phone, you create time and space for things you enjoy. You might’ve told yourself you don’t have enough time to dive into your hobbies, but in reality, you were glued to your phone.

Instead of picking up your phone to scroll through tweets, why not explore new activities you’ve meant to try?

You might have books to read on your to-do list or new recipes you want to cook. Perhaps you want to take up a crafting project, write a novel, or take a yoga class. Whatever it is, it’s important to make time for. Hobbies boost your creativity, inspire you in other areas of your life, and overall help you feel fulfilled.

Delete Time-Wasting Apps

Deleting time-wasting apps is an automatic cheat sheet for improving your time spent. It’s impossible to continue this habit if you no longer have the app readily available. Soon enough, you’ll get used to its absence and might not miss it much, either.

Some of the most popular apps, like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, can negatively affect users. People can develop anxiety, depression, and FOMO that leaves them feeling unfulfilled and unhappy.

As you declutter your phone, you also get rid of the wasted time and negative energy that can come with it. Social media isn’t a bad thing as long as you manage it in a healthy way. Too much of anything isn’t good for you, and it’s especially true for screen time.

Your Turn

If you want to improve your time management with your phone, these tips are sure to help you get started. While there’s nothing wrong with browsing social media and other apps, it’s important to spend your time wisely. Too much time on your phone can lead to negative effects, so make sure you make time for what’s important. How will you improve your smartphone usage?