The ever increasing screen time has become a huge problem for our society over the years. With more and more services going online, there really isn’t much that you can not do from a particular digital device. Although this seems like a favourable as well as a comfortable situation to be in, it has quietly been creating a number of serious problems for the entire mankind. The pandemic made us feel quite isolated during the numerous lockdowns that it brought with itself. But having to work and function majorly through our phones or laptops for most of the day has really pushed our isolation to the edge.
In addition to this, more and more cases of backaches and eye strain are being reported each day, more than ever before. It is not hard to guess what the common cause of all of these problems is. And that is undoubtedly the burgeoning number of hours that we spend on various screens throughout the entire day. While we understand that some of this screen time is spent on doing productive and unavoidable activities, a lot of it still is spent scrolling aimlessly on our phones, wasting so many hours that we can spend doing so much more instead. In this article, we are discussing some ways through which you can effectively reduce your screen time. If you are interested to know more about these, then just keep on reading!
- Do More Of What You Love:
A major thing which makes us want to kill time on our phones is not doing enough things that we want to do throughout the day. There could be many reasons for not engaging in things which bring us a lot of joy like paucity of time. But the benefit of engaging in such activities is that if you enjoy doing them enough, you can get lost in them and actually completely forget to check your phone. These activities can be anything like painting, reading, playing a favourite sport etc.
- Visit Different Places:
A major cause of increased screen time has been recognised as boredom. A lot of us turn towards social media when we get bored, and that scenario is way too common considering how short our attention span has become. A good way to dispel this boredom is to keep visiting and working from new places every few days. This will keep your life exciting enough that you will be much less likely to be on your phone all the time. If you can not travel a lot, just go work from different local cafes or parts of the city that you have not yet explored.
- Eat Nutritious Food:
Now you may not think that your diet has a big role to play in your increased screen time. But that is where you are wrong because it indeed is quite a true fact. If you tend to binge eat a lot or indulge in more unhealthy sugary snacks instead of healthy food, your body becomes more lethargic in the long run. This can make you lead a largely sedentary lifestyle. So whenever you get a chance to either sit on your couch and scroll on your phone all day or go out and workout, you will more likely choose the former option. Therefore, lethargy can increase your screen time. Make sure to eat a lot of nutritious food as well as some dietary supplements to eradicate lethargy from your life and live an active lifestyle with lesser time spent on the phone.
- Fix Your Sleep Cycle:
Having a great sleep cycle is conducive to good health. But a lot of the time we attribute the lack of a good sleep cycle to not being able to get off our phones on time to get our required number of sleeping hours. Even if you put your phone away on time, the blue light which is emanated from devices makes it harder to fall asleep instantly, leading to problems like insomnia in the long run. A good way to combat it is to say a big no to using any kind of digital devices right before bed. Once you do that, you will see your sleep cycle increasingly getting better and better.
- Avoid Using Devices While You Eat:
Digital devices have effectively infiltrated almost all aspects of our lives. They haven’t even left the food table alone. A lot of people have developed a habit of looking at their phones or watching television whilst eating all of their meals. This is completely unnecessary and deceptively harmful for our overall health. This is because it prevents mindful eating, making us eat much more than we need to. We also lose out on the time we can spend talking to our family members around the dining table. So make it a point to ditch your phones whenever you sit down to eat.
- Reduce The Social Media Allure:
Social media has been specifically designed to lure you in with customised content so that your attention remains constantly hooked onto these numerous apps. The only way to break the cycle of falling into the social media blackhole is to limit the usage. Set a time limit of how many minutes you spend on each app. You can also limit the number of people that you follow so you do not waste time scrolling through a lot of unnecessary posts.
- Do It Gradually:
If you are a self proclaimed social media or digital device addict, then it can really be a challenge to limit your usage of these. The first step is to recognise that you have a problem. Once you have done that, take slow and gradual steps to follow through with your plan. Do not completely cut yourself off suddenly from all social media activity as that can do more harm than good in the long run. This is because your brain takes time to get used to a new and drastic routine so if you suddenly make a huge change, you will start having withdrawal symptoms. These can then manifest through failing to stay away from your phone for too long, nullifying the whole activity.
We really hope that these tips were able to help you out in coming up with a game plan to reduce your screen time. Do share this article with someone who needs to cut down on their social media as well phone usage to help them.