How To: Put down the phone
We know that tech companies have intentionally made their devices and platforms addictive and that high levels of usage are correlated with increased stress and anxiety. Phones also contribute to the myth of multitasking, which also adds stress hormones. Helping students pay attention to when and why they reach for their phones can begin to break ingrained and self-defeating habits and help students become intentional about their phone use. Helping them understand how their phones are really contributing to their anxiety – which many of them even know – can also help them learn to step away.
For Students
- Identify what you’re hoping to gain by pulling out your phone and what would happen if you put it away. Are you looking for information? Connection? Trying to escape a boring or awkward moment? Checking to see if you’ve missed anything? If you don’t have an immediate, genuine reason to be on your phone, put it away.
- Reconfigure phone settings to establish some boundaries.
- Track your screen time and find out how often you pick your phone up every day, every hour.
- Set maximum time limits for how long you can be on certain apps.
- Rearrange your home screen so the most tempting apps are out of sight.
- Turn off notifications.
- Maintain some distance. If you’re in class, studying, or having dinner with friends, keep your phone in a bookbag or somewhere a little more out of reach. Resist late night scrolling, don’t sleep with it near your bed.
- Just having your phone around has been shown to reduce brain power.
- Spend time offline. Constantly being online is detrimental to our creativity. Try keeping a log of how much time you spend on social media. You may be horrified. Visit a landmark or park, go see a talk, or see if others in your residence hall are up for a game night. Carve out time for journaling, meditating, or embracing boredom (reframe it as giving yourself some mental space).
- Just knowing what it’s doing to your brain can help.