Mindless Scrolling — How To Help Yourself

You’ve been awake for at least 30 mins but you’re still in bed, scrolling through Instagram, emails, or Facebook — either way, none of it is needed. Before you know it SO much time has passed and you’ve learned nothing. You know you’ve been there, we all have.

Admit it, you’re addicted to your phone like the rest of us.

We all know we could be doing something way better with our time yet can’t find a way out. It almost seems impossible to break this cycle of having the constant need to check your phone. The first step when fighting any addiction is to admit you’re addicted. Are you addicted to your phone and need some advice to follow in order to stop the mindless scrolling?

Recently I’ve been a lot more aware of this and have been trying out different methods to help me reduce screen time entirely.

Let’s put an end to the mindless scrolling!

Switch off your notifications

The first thing to do is to switch off all of your notifications.

How many times a day do you get distracted by something irrelevant on your phone. You unlock your phone to check the weather but you get an IG notification so 20 minutes later, you’ve been mindlessly scrolling through the gram but haven’t even checked the weather yet!

Stop. Right now.

Go to settings and switch off your notifications. Don’t get distracted while doing this, be sure to come back and read the rest of my advice.

You’ll live without being updated every time someone sends you a message or comments on your photo.

If you want to act on this today, start immediately.

Set a time limit

Figure out which apps you’re spending the mindless minutes on and set a limit on accessing them throughout the day.

If you’re spending 4 hours a day on one app, set yourself a 2-hour limit, and over time, slowly reduce that limit.

Soon you’ll realise how you relied on it, despite not really needing it. You can also set a particular time during the day, when checking your apps is allowed.

Try limiting yourself to 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at lunch and 10 mins in the evening.

Find what works best for you — just make sure you set a limit and stick to it.

Out of sight, out of mind

Whilst you’re working keep your phone in a drawer or even better, if possible, in a different room. This way you actively have to go out of your room to check your phone.

This means more opportunity to catch yourself in the act, and stop… well that's only if you’re determined to stop the inevitable scrolling!

The same applies when you’re spending quality time with loved ones, the worst thing to do is be in the room but not really present, i.e scrolling on your phone, whilst pretending to listen to your partner talking about their day.

Keep it in your pocket or purse so you’re more involved in the conversation. Family time is priceless, be sure you’re making the most of it by being in the moment.

As for work, you’ll find yourself being far more productive if you’re not spending half the day on your phone.

This is likely to take a little bit more time because (and I’m speaking from experience) many of us are attached to our phones, when we can’t see it, we wonder even more what we’re missing out on.

It’s like when I am trying to diet, I know that chocolate isn’t a good idea, but then crave it even more as I’m not allowed it.

Have some willpower, you can live without your phone for the day.

Set yourself some breaks throughout the day to allow yourself to check it but there is no need to spend hours on your phone for no reason.

Replace your phone, with a hobby instead

I’ve found that I can spend 20 minutes up to hours scrolling through Instagram (that app is certainly my downfall) but recently I’ve been trying to replace this with learning new skills — for me that's practising Spanish, playing the Ukelele or skipping outside.

Spending more time away from my screen has been really fulfilling.

Another way to replace screen time is to do a home workout, there are plenty of 20-minute workout routines on youtube that you could be doing instead of sitting on your phone.

Staying active and reducing screen time — it’s a win-win situation.

Delete apps

Now for the final step and although this may seem a little drastic, it works!

Start by deleting the apps you don’t use, then delete the ones that are your biggest distractions.

You can start off small by deleting them in the morning and redownloading them of an evening or vice versa, based on when you feel the need to check them you can.

This will stop you aimlessly scrolling when you don’t need to be.

It takes no time at all to redownload an app but it certainly makes you think, “do I really need it”.

Feeling connected 24/7 is what many of us crave but as humans, it’s important to have downtime too.

Admitting that you’re guilty of mindless scrolling is the first step to being in control.

If all of these suggestions are too much for you to handle in one go, try one and see how you go.

It may be that you don’t need to do them all or that you need to try implementing them over a longer period of time, it’s finding what works best for you.

When you’re not glued to your phone, you’ll be amazed by how much longer your days are and how much more time you’ve gained with your loved ones.

Let me know how you get on!