10 Tips for Reducing iPhone Distractions & Enjoying Life to the Fullest!
Let’s talk about technology dependence.
Do you ever feel like you can’t be present in the moment you’re living in because you’re distracted by your phone? Are you constantly distracted by dings from text messages, notifications from Instagram, or even a compulsive need to keep your email inbox number down? I’ve been there, friend! I have often felt a growing sense of anxiety from my mind being divided into a million directions or a dark cloud hanging over me of all that I’m “missing out” on or even an emotional fatigue from being so connected to all of the world’s happiness and grief in one quick scroll. After reading The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry &Digital Minimalism, two books I would HIGHLY recommend, I have been more convicted than ever about how much I have let my phone rob me of the simple joys of of being present and aware of all that life is offering me in the moment. My soul felt an ache for change and these books both confirmed that in me and gave me some practical changes I could make right away. Today I’m sharing a few practical tips I’m implementing in my own life to keep a little bit more healthy space between me and my phone so that I can live less dependent on it and enjoy life more fully!
How Do I Know I'm Dependent On My Phone?: A Quiz!
Before we begin, take this little Yes/No quiz and see where you fall when it comes to your own iPhone dependency. Be completely honest with yourself!
When you stop at a red light, do you instantly look down to check your phone?
Do you text and drive?
When you use the restroom, is your phone usually in your hand?
Do you check your email after work hours?
Do you hop on Instagram (or any social media outlet) more than 5 times per day?
Is using your phone the last thing you do before bed and/or the first thing you do in the morning?
Do you have to ask people to repeat what they said because you missed it while you were looking at your phone?
Is your phone always nearby - in your pocket, on the table beside you, in your hand?
Would you say that your phone distracts you from enjoying what’s around you and who’s around you?
Do you wish you spent less time on your phone?
Now for your score! Tally up all of the questions you said NO to. What was your score out of 10? Did you get an A, B, C, or even a D? Are you happy with your score? If not, my practical phone tips can help you build a healthier relationship with your phone. These tips have helped me so much in this season, and I know they will help you too!
Confession
If I had taken this quiz even a month ago, I would have scored very poorly. My phone was distracting me from enjoying time with my family; I could hardly walk into another room without my phone in hand (or in pocket), and I was losing focus & productivity in my work from constantly checking my phone. And it hit me, that is NOT the life I want. I want rich conversations with my husband before bed, I want to enjoy playing with my kids, I want to make the most of my time at work, I want a clear and rested mind, I want to be present in conversations, I want to take in the beauty all around me, I want to connect deeply with Jesus, and I want to be still and know that He is God. Ultimately, I want how I use my phone to align with my values, and when I took time to reflect on that, I realized that they weren’t lining up.
I started implementing several of these tips below and they have been a total GAME CHANGER in the best way. I am able to enjoy time with my family and friends, soak in the beauty around me more fully, and be much more effective & productive during my work hours. It has been a win-win, and I hope it will be for you, too!
10 Tips for Reducing iPhone Distractions & Enjoying Life to the Fullest!
Charge your phone in another room at night.I hated that the last thing Harrison and I often did before bed each night & first thing each morning was to check our phones. If I were to zoom out and look at that picture, how depressing?! The two of us, madly in love (hehe) just sitting in bed beside each other scrolling on our phones. No! Get out of my life phone - it’s time for you to sleep in your own bed!We now charge our phones in our bathroom. Currently, we’re still using our phones for an alarm clock - having it ringing loudly in the other room makes us literally have to get up out of bed in the morning to turn it off so that we’re less likely to fall right back asleep after hitting snooze. But, I have actually been meaning to just buy an alarm clock so that the temptation to check our phones when turning off the alarm clock isn’t even there any more. For now, I just stop the alarm and leave my phone on the counter until after my morning routine is finished. More on that in tip #3.
Put your phone to bed at least an hour before you go to bed, if not more.Think of all the wonderful things you could do with your time before going to sleep besides scrolling endlessly on your phone! You could read, talk to your spouse, fold the laundry, or even just think your own thoughts without the input of others - how crazy would that be?! Plus, there are plenty of studies that share how looking at your phone right before bed can negatively impact your quality of sleep. So there is lots to gain here!
Don’t look at your phone until after you’ve completed your morning routine, or until after an hour after you wake up. For me, this means not looking at my phone until after I’ve read my Bible, journaled & prayed, had some solitude, & set my intentions for the day. If you don’t have a morning routine, check out this blog to read more about mine or download my free morning routine guide! And even if you don’t have a regular morning routine just yet, you could try not looking at your phone until an hour after waking up. I promise it will help you feel more mentally clear, less overwhelmed, and more peaceful as you start your day!
Turn off your notifications.This one was tough for me at first, but slowly, I have turned off notifications for just about everything on my phone! At first, it was just my social media apps. Then, I turned off notifications for email. Now, I even have notifications turned off for my text messages. It’s funny, because this is how people lived up until the invention of the smartphone in 2007, yet it feels like such a RADICAL approach. But guys, it’s not! And it has been absolutely freeing and made me more intentional about how often I look at my phone. If it feels overwhelming to you to turn off ALL notifications, start small with just a few apps and then turn off more notifications as you go. I promise you won’t regret it!
Use Do Not Disturb when you’re working. It takes an average of about 25 minutes(23 minutes and 15 seconds, to be exact) to return to your original task after an interruption, according to Gloria Mark, who studies digital distraction at the University of California, Irvine. And many other studies confirm just how much distractions can affect your productivity and work efficiency. So why not eliminate one of those distractions by leaving your phone on Do Not Disturb? Need a refresher on what the Do Not Disturb setting on your phone does? This setting allows you to silence all calls and notifications, with customizations for allowing certain phone numbers or repeated calls, automatically enabling DND when you’re driving, or scheduling when you would like your DND setting to be turned on.When I’m working, I keep my phone on Do Not Disturb, minus my favorites in my contact list, so the only people I allow phone calls from during work hours are my husband and babysitter/preschool. Otherwise, they can wait until after. I also allow notifications if someone calls twice, because typically, that only happens in an emergency.
Put your phone on airplane mode regularly.A step further from Do Not Disturb, is putting your phone completely on airplane mode. I love to use this feature when I’m spending time with my family & want to have my phone for photography purposes to take pictures of my kids! Wa-lah, I now have the camera feature of my phone without all the distractions. They’ll be waiting for me when I turn airplane mode off later.
Schedule “Downtime” away from your phone each day.Go to Settings > Screentime. Scroll down to Downtime and you’ll see that you can actually set parameters on when you want to have time away from your phone. In Downtime mode, you choose which apps and phone calls are able to come through.
Set “App Limits” on your phone for your most used apps. Go to Settings > Screentime. Scroll down to App Limits. You’ll see that you can set time limits on how much time you’re allowed to spend on certain apps each day! By far, my most used apps on my phone are Messages & Instagram. Putting parameters on just those top two apps significantly controlled the amount of time I was spending on my phone!
Only allow yourself to check social media outlets on your computer.By restricting your usage of social media outlets to your computer, it will naturally eliminate how often you are using them. This isn’t for everybody, but sometimes the simple change of making your social media outlets less convenient to access is enough to help reduce the amount of time you casually hop in and out of your online social worlds.
Only allow yourself to check email, Slack, or other work-related apps on your computer.Similar to the tip above, putting these guidelines in your life will help keep you off your phone and will help create a more natural boundary from your work life and personal life.
Why It’s Worth It to Break Up With Your Phone
The technology we use on a daily basis is incredible. And why I’m thankful for social media and so many other tools, it has been life changing to take a step back and implement more boundaries in how I use these gifts. If you’re anything like me, there might be a few areas you can step back from in regards to your phone usage. The truth is, there is so much beauty happening around us, and if we’re only looking at our phone, we’re missing it. I don’t want to look up one day and realize my kids are older, or even worse, realize they’re addicted to their own technology because it’s what they saw mom do. It is uncomfortable to make this change at first, but I promise it is worth it.