20 Things To Do Instead of Scrolling Through Your Phone - by Aleid Ter Weel - Personal Growth Lab - Nov, 2021 - Medium
20 Things To Do Instead of Scrolling Through Your Phone - by Aleid Ter Weel - Personal Growth Lab - Nov, 2021 - Medium
20 Things To Do Instead of Scrolling Through Your Phone - by Aleid Ter Weel - Personal Growth Lab - Nov, 2021 - Medium
PRODUCTIVITY LIFE ADVICE PERSONAL FINANCE THE BOOK CLUB PEAK PRODUCTIVITY PLANNER
Personal Growth Lab You have 2 free member-only stories left this month. Sign up for Medium and get an extra one
High-quality ideas & insights to
elevate your life.
20 Things To Do Instead of
Follow
Research shows the majority of Americans spend a full waking month out of
every year on their phone.
Here are 20 small daily habits you can start right now to begin the process
of spending less time on your phone.
Try to honor appointments with loved ones. Stick to plans and respect the
time you have reserved to be together. In addition, keeping promises and
commitments to friends and families builds stronger and more trustful
relationships.
Instead of keeping your phone on you, combine quality time with having
nourishing meals. Taste your food and enjoy your company without being
distracted by beeping, vibrating, and flashing screens.
In his book Indistractable, Nir Eyal provides several tools to defeat the news
feed. My favorite is a free web browser extension called News Feed
Eradicator for Facebook, which does exactly as it says: it eliminates the
news feed and replaces it with an inspirational quote.
A British study found that the average smartphone is dirtier than a toilet
seat, and sitting on the toilet for too long can screw up your body’s pooping
process.
Do you butt, your mind, and the people asking to borrow your phone a
favor and leave your phone at the bathroom door.
Delete apps that no longer serve you and rearrange them into useful
categories. This way, you’ll be more directive when you open your phone
and find what you’re looking for more quickly, avoiding the chance of being
distracted by other apps.
Anyone who has used Instagram through their browser will know it’s far
less enjoyable, and as an extra win, you don’t receive any notifications!
So whenever you notice your social media habits are slacking, ask yourself
where this behavior is coming from. Try to pinpoint the root cause because
by understanding your pain and discomfort, you can find lasting ways to
deal with negative urges.
But research shows that while texting increases and fosters an illusion of
closeness, it actually decreases a relationship’s stability and satisfaction. As
author Tanya Goodin mentions in her book Off: “Written words cannot
convey the warmth of a voice or the undeniable sincerity of eye contact.”
For me it’s climbing and building things with my hands, for you it may be
going out with friends, home maintenance, or taking long walks.
Don’t shy away from action and demanding leisure — even after a hard day
of work. You’ll likely end the night feeling better than if you had spend the
entire evening passively watching Netflix or browsing Twitter.
But as Cal Newport argues in his book Digital Minimalism, spending time
alone with your own thoughts is what allows you to process and balance
complex emotions, solve hard problems, and gain creative insights.
Stop prioritizing distractions over the most important people in your life. Top highlight
Stop blowing magical moments with your loved ones because something on
your phone grabbed your attention.
Be, laugh, and share with real friends in real life as much as you can.
And don’t forget about our most loyal friends too. Take long walks with
your dog or cuddle your cat on the couch instead of impatiently trying to
get him to do-the-cute-thing again while pointing a camera in its face.
To get into a flow state, try different activities for which you’ll need your full
attention and preferable both hands — so you can’t scroll through your
phone simultaneously. It can be reading, drawing, crafting, cooking,
exercising, puzzling; whatever offline, screen-free activity floats your boat!
Not only will it help you wind down, but your brain also produces
rewarding chemicals when in a flow state — making it a meaningful
experience and a joyful way to pass your time.
I hope this article helps you spend less time on your phone and more time
investing in your family, friends, rest, and focus.
If you find articles like this valuable and want to support my work, consider
signing up to Medium. You get unlimited access to all articles from thousands
of writers. If you sign up using my link, I’ll earn a small commission. I
appreciate your support!
By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information
about our privacy practices.
1.1K 17
WRITTEN BY
I was very worried when I Fixing stuff around myself Gaining Momentum, The Monster of
made the last detailed Tooba Tehreem Sheikh
Gratitude and everything Procrastination is out to
plan for the week. else I’ve learned this get you
Anton Utekhin
week #sinemslearnings Reza Ghobady
Sinem Günel in The Post-Grad
Survival Guide
Increase Focus and How to Improve Our How to Be More The Perfect Day
Attention Focus Productive and Motivated Alejandro Alvarez Mitre
The Pragmatic Programmers in Monetization Nation | with
By Doing Nothing
The Pragmatic Programmers Nathan Gwilliam Alex Lebedev in Psychology of
Stuff