How I got my screen time down to 38 minutes a day

The average adult in the US spends 3 hours and 17 minutes on their phones. What is your daily screen time average? Are you afraid to check? Do you dread seeing that weekly screen time digest your phone sends you?

Recently, my weekly screen time average hit a record low of 38 minutes a day. While this is an outlier if I average the last 5 weeks, my screen time average is 1 hour and 5 minutes a day. Not bad.

It didn’t use to be this low. 2 years ago, I was averaging more than 5 hours on my phone every day. Seeing this stat put a knot in my stomach. How much of my waking life was I wasting on my phone? I recommend you do some math and figure out how much of your life is spent on your phone. It’s scary.

After scaring myself and having an existential breakdown, I decided to break my phone habit and drastically lower my screen time. I’ll tell you now; it’s hard. It’s been a long process for me. But now that I am averaging 1 hour of screen time each day, I feel so much happier and fulfilled in life.

1 hour of screen time a day might seem absurd. Keep in mind this is only for my phone, I still use my computer for work, I have a laptop, and I have an Apple TV for when I want to throw on a movie.

It’s not like I’ve alienated myself from the digital age. I’m still tending to my business and my personal relationships. My screen time decreasing does not mean I’m neglecting important connections—quite the opposite. I feel like I have more time available for important connections.

I’m not saying you should get rid of your phone or switch to a flip phone. I think phones are a great tool. I recommend that you take a look at your life and your phone habits. Ruthlessly cut out the things that are adding no value. And be intentional with the time you put into your phone.

So, if you’re looking at your own screen time and wanting to see that number drastically decrease, here are some tips that have worked for me.

1. Delete Social Media (shocker).

This surprises no-one, but odds are the bulk of your screen time is spent on social media. You might argue you need to keep your social media and remain active. And I totally get that. I’m not saying you should delete your accounts, stop posting, and ignore those DMs.

I have multiple Instagram accounts for my businesses, so I understand the need to post regularly and check the DMs. But how much of your time is spent doing the productive work, and how much time is spent getting sucked into the algorithm mindlessly browsing?

Take a good look at your social media behavior. If you’re not posting regularly and are just consuming content, delete those apps. Seriously, what value are you gaining by scrolling through the algorithms? If you are an influencer or have businesses and need to remain active, here is my advice on how to successfully utilize social media:

Delete the app from your phone and use the apps' desktop version.

Most apps, except Snapchat and TikTok, have a desktop version. For Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, you can post and utilize most mobile features. For Instagram, you cannot post on the desktop version, but I’ll talk about that solution in a minute.

Set aside a window of time to conduct your business.

Make all your social media posts in this window of time, check your DMs, and reply to your messages. I only check on social media once a day. Once I’ve done my work, I log out and do not touch it until the next day.

You can also take advantage of apps like Later or Hootsuite to schedule your posts. For Instagram and Facebook, I will schedule out the posts for the week and let the app automatically post them; that way, the only thing I have to do each day is take 5 minutes to check my messages and reply to people.

After a year of doing my work like this, I’ve been able to reinstall the social media apps back onto my phone. Believe it or not, but I’m no longer addicted to social media. I’m not constantly checking the apps or mindlessly scrolling. I often go days without even interacting with social media on my phone.

2. Identify problem apps and delete those too.

Social media might not be your biggest problem. It could be a mobile game, news app, streaming service, internet forum, finance app, etc. Identify the apps that are consuming a lot of your time and ask yourself is this adding value to your life?

Is this app improving my life or wasting my time?

If you are sinking many hours into an app that is wasting time, delete that app immediately. Mobile games, news apps, and streaming services are typically the dangerous ones to look out for. When I deleted all games, news, and streaming from my phone and my happiness levels increased drastically. These apps can be just as addicting as social media but offer even less value to your life.

You have to be ruthless with this. Delete those unnecessary apps.

3. Turn off notifications.

I only allow 1 notification on my phone—incoming calls. Everything else is silenced and gives no notification. Doing this alone will decrease your screen time drastically. It’s amazing how reactionary our phone habits are. We hear the ding, feel the buzz, or see the screen illuminate, and we have to check it out.

When you have a hundred apps all fighting for your attention, it’s no wonder some people spend more than 5 hours on their phone each day. Turning off those notifications let you utilize the apps on your own terms.

When I check my messages, I can see everything, reply to them, and move on with my day. You might think people would get frustrated if you don’t respond immediately, but how much of what comes in in a day needs immediate response?

If you’re in a position where there is urgency, let those individuals know that the best way to reach you immediately is to call. Odds are, people won’t call you a bunch if you establish that rule. They’ll realize most of the urgency in life is made up, and they will be patient for your reply.

Don’t believe me? Try it.

4. Keep your phone out of reach.

When you’re working at your desk, cooking in the kitchen, driving, hanging out in your bedroom, wherever you might be, place your phone somewhere where you would have to physically get up to get it.

If our phone is always within reach and never leaves our eyesight, of course, it’s going to be on our minds. We’ll want to reach for it and check it; we’ve been conditioned to do so. But if you place your phone, someone out of sight, and out of immediate reach, something amazing will happen. You’ll forget about it!

It would be best if you had it placed somewhere where you can still hear it for immediate notifications, but placing your phone out of reach will drastically cut your screen time down. So put your phone in a drawer, on a shelf, or in a closet. It’ll be there when you truly need it.

One extreme version of this is to keep your phone out of the bedroom entirely. I’ve used this technique before, and it’s beneficial, but I’ve found keeping it out of reach can be just as effective.

5. Stop taking your phone to the bathroom.

I could have lumped this in with the previous tip, but I wanted to really call this out. Using the phone on the toilet has always bothered me for sanitary reasons. Unless you’re a rare breed that disinfects your phone after you wash your hands, but let’s be real. You don’t do that.

I’ll end this rant with one question, would you consume your food or beverage on the toilet? That’s all. Rant over.

Aside from my personal disdain for phones and toilets, not taking your phone to the bathroom will also help decrease your screen time.

6. Don’t use your phone for alarms.

The worst thing you can do is check your phone first thing in the morning. That morning alarm goes off, you roll over, turn it off, and start browsing the internet. It’s like you’re injecting yourself with anxiety and stress first thing in the morning. Stop that shit.

Get a physical clock or watch. I used to use my phone to tell me when to wake up, when to go to the gym, when to call a client, when to head to a shoot, when my tea is done, or when my food is cooked. But odds are, once you turn off that alarm, you’ll check something else on your phone. You might as well, right? It’s already unlocked and in your hand.

No, stop it. A cheap digital watch or clock can be just as effective and comes with 0 distractions.

7. Set time limits on your phone.

I assume this is a feature on Androids, but I’m speaking from my iPhone experience here. Your phone comes with the ability to set time restrictions, look at the problem apps you have, and if you can’t delete them, then set a time limit on them. Setting limits can make you more aware of how much time you actually spend and help you cut back on your screen time.

Bonus tip: Set your phone to black and white mode.

This is a bit extreme. I’ll admit that. But it is effective. I don’t use this anymore, but it was a fun test, even if it’s only for a little bit.

In your accessibility settings, you can set your phone to grayscale mode. The bright, colorful screens are an addictive quality of our phones. Red notifications, colorful pictures, pretty blue messages. It’s all designed to draw you in. Black and white mode will make your phone boring while keeping full functionality. I recommend testing it out.

Bonus tip 2: Change the native language of the phone.

This only applies if you’re learning a new language or trying to improve a second language. But changing the native language in your phone can make your phone less addicting while also providing a learning experience.

I’ve been studying Japanese for the last year, and I’ve done this on a few occasions. It’s a great learning experience, and it really does cut your screen time. Often I’ll go to do something pointless, and the Japanese will be a barrier. If it’s important, I’ll have to put my studying to use and decipher what’s going on. But oftentimes, if it’s for a pointless task, the extra work will discourage me from proceeding.

So if you’re learning a new language or want to improve a second language, I highly recommend testing this.

Phones aren’t inherently bad. They can be a great tool to allow us to do amazing things. But who is in control? You, or the phone? Hopefully, these tips will help you reclaim control of your phone habits and give you more time for the important things in life.

You control the phone, do not let your phone control you.

Thanks for reading! I love hearing about other people's screen time and their phone habits. So please drop a comment below. I would love to hear about your experience.

And as always. Make it a great day or not; the choice is yours.

T