TL;DR: In four weeks, I’ve cut my average screen time from 8 hours and 55 minutes to 1 hour and 28 minutes on average.
I know no one cares about this, but I still wanted to share it here just in case someone is facing the same problem and looking for motivation.
I recently finished my semester and got a summer break. My girlfriend and I planned our first big trip abroad, something we’d been looking forward to for more than a year. But after getting free from studies and exams, I got addicted to my phone, spending hours scrolling social media. My addiction started to ruin our plans and our excitement for the trip.
More than a month ago, my girlfriend spent a weekend finding resources to help me. She found an article with practical methods for different levels of phone addiction. Inspired by her effort, I decided to give it a shot.
Week 1 saw my screen time drop to 7 hours and 35 minutes on average, which made me very happy because I never thought anything would help me with my phone addiction. Even though I started with no hope, seeing this result gave me hope.
Week 2 brought it down further to 5 hours and 12 minutes on average. The key was a fun challenge my girlfriend and I did together to stay off our phones. Having her as my support system made everything so much easier.
In Week 3, I tried a $23 timed locker my girlfriend got from Amazon. It worked wonders, cutting my late-night screen time and improving my sleep. I ended the week with an average of 4 hours and 3 minutes on average. Despite a slight setback over the weekend due to feeling down, I’m happy with my progress, even though it was very little.
In the last week of this challenge, I kept up the same habits but added a new twist suggested by my girlfriend. We signed up for swimming classes and started going daily because we always wanted to learn swimming. It’s been fun, and I’m loving every second of it. I also started locking my phone for an hour in the morning using the timed locker. This helped me bring down my screen time to 1 hour and 28 minutes. While my initial goal was 1 hour or less, I’m proud of myself with my progress.
Honestly, I couldn't have achieved this without my girlfriend’s support. I’m incredibly grateful to have her in my life. Dating her was the best decision I've ever made. I want to write a big thank-you paragraph here, but I don't want to bore anyone.
Here is my screen time screenshot before I started: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JQVQaI1q7xgLUpojzx6osRci8zwwGWoJ/view?usp=sharing
Here is my screen time screenshot from the previous week: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TjBWCJyLDX29fdgdaq-UJ21X3osVcBhx/view?usp=sharing
Do you have any tips for parents that try to protect their teenagers getting addicted?
Alternatives. Addictions seem so often caused by the fact there’s fuck-all else to do or because someone feels trapped without those vices. If all they have is the phone then I don’t blame them.
Do you live somewhere with transit access? Living in a car-centric suburb is another way kids are essentially stuck at home with little to do because of how difficult it is to interact with other people or participate in activities.
Also remember to, if you aren’t already I don’t know you, show them that they can learn things. I know so many people who legitimately think they can’t do certain things. They think they can’t make things out of wood or fix a car or whatever else. When I help my friends with that stuff I tell them that the only price is that I want to teach them a new skill/confidence and friend when I tell you that seeing them operate a power drill for the first time, do their first oil change, paint a wall, whatever is the greatest feeling I can get my hands on I ain’t lyin’. Kids know they aren’t experts but I see so many people, even without ill intent, acting as if they can never be and it hurts me to see.
I bought a mandolin for $50 a few months ago and despite playing bass since 2007 this thing has reduced my screen time an absurd amount. It might not be an instrument but whatever it is it should be accessible, something they can grab and fiddle with in place of the phone. Oh and to my previous point: The thing was cheap and needed work but a few Youtube videos later and I have the thing playing way out of its league now.
Provide alternatives, educate about the negative AND positive uses of smart devices, help them use their phones for productive and useful stuff. Give them space and time to figure it out. Help them reflect on how using the device makes them feel. And sometimes, yes: take it away Edit: forgot my qualifications: I'm a childhood educator and work with school kids
I would add, that you should consider how much of a good example you are yourself, if you as a parent are on the phone constantly, your kids will probably pick that up and do the same.
There are so many cool apps where you can leverage the camera to assess things in the real world. My wife and I occasionally use the plant identifier app, and there are tons of apps for scanning objects in 3d. Trying to redirect some of that screen time to genuinely interesting and educational apps helps. Also, my wife and I have been playing Pokémon Go for years. It’s too hot right now, but it got us out walking consistently when it was cooler out.
My screen time is much reduced, but I still try to find other ways to use it that don’t involve social media. Social media is the common thread when it comes to unhealthy screen behaviors these days and shaking that FOMO can be a challenge. Part of that challenge for me involved setting up my own Lemmy instance. I spend time reading through interesting articles, looking at art, animals, weird facts, book recommendations, comics, etc. It’s much easier to disconnect from than social media can be.
Let them experience unstructured time without distractions. In other words: boredom, but with things like comics, toys or a basketball within reach. They start off complaining of boredom and end up immersed in something if the right options exist. That helps them master low-stimulation (normal) environments and learn to regulate their nervous systems to tolerate normality.