How To Wean Yourself Off Smartphones And Social Media

Are your push notifications still set to defaults? Are you getting a deluge of emails, messages, and alerts from Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Slack, and dozens of other apps? Cut out the noise.

Go into notification settings on all your devices—smartphones, tablets, desktops and laptops—and turn everything off that's not essential. Notifications appearing as red dots next to your app icons are visual cues begging you to check them. One good rule is to turn off all notifications except for direct messages and mentions, meaning the ones coming from real people.

App and device-makers have begun to respond to the tech addiction backlash. For iPhone users, iOS 12 includes a feature called Screen Time, not only tracks your screen time and app usage, but lets you schedule limits and "Downtime" away from certain apps and alerts. Here's how to use it.

If you're running the latest version of Android, you can do the same with Google's Digital Wellbeing app. Digital Wellbeing gives you a dashboard breaking down app usage, how often you've unlocked your phone, and how many notifications you've received. You can also set app limits and turn off notifications.

The Center for Humane Technology (CHT) says the "colorful icons give our brains shiny rewards every time we unlock." Setting your phone to grayscale is a way to train your mind to check your phone less.

On iOS devices, go to Settings > General > Accessibility and scroll down to Accessibility Shortcut. If you check the Color Filters option, it unlocks a feature allowing you to triple-tap the side button or home button, depending on your iPhone, to turn grayscale on and off. With iOS Screen Time, apps you've opted to ignore during Downtime will also appear grayed out.

On Android, the process may vary, but check under Settings > About phone. With Digital Wellbeing in Android Pie, apps turn gray when you've hit your daily limit.

Read more about the CHT in our feature story on Silicon Valley's responsibility for tech addiction.

Don't keep your smartphone within reach at night. Rather than charging it on your nightstand, your phone should charge further away from your bed or ideally be left in another room entirely so you're not tempted to pick it up if you wake up in the middle of the night. The best way to do that is to get a separate alarm clock so your wake-up isn't tied to your device.

Other good tips include not using smartphones for the last hour before bed and using apps like f.lux or Night Shift on iOS devices to reduce blue light stimulating your mind before sleep. But the best remedy for tech-related sleep issues is to keep your smartphone as far away at night as possible.

What are the first apps on your home screen? Do Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, or Reddit come up in your first few rows of apps? First, put all your social apps in a folder and banish it to the furthest reaches of your smartphone; the last of the home screens. If you want to check them, your mind will have to work for it.

Instead, turn your smartphone back into a tool. Put the utility apps on your home screen: the camera, calendar, maps, notes, ride-hailing apps, weather, etc. For everything else—games, social apps, and even messaging apps if they're not essential—your mind should have to put in a conscious effort to open them.

Modern smartphone interfaces are designed as intuitively as possible so you can use them without having to think about it. It's easy to tap into an app and start scrolling without even considering whether you opened it for a reason. Even that small change in behavioral architecture lets you pause for a moment and think about whether you're opening the app for a reason.

On iOS, swipe down from the home screen to open the search bar and type for the app you want. Another good tip is to turn off Siri Suggestions by going to Siri & Search from the Settings menu and toggling off the two options. On Android you can use the Search Box on your home screen.

There are a number of apps out there designed to help you focus and cut out digital distractions. Thrive puts a user into Thrive Mode to block all apps, notifications, calls, and texts except for "VIPs" you've designated. Meditation apps like Calm and Headspace are designed to help you de-stress and focus your mind. Freedom temporarily blocks apps and websites for set periods of time. You can motivate yourself with gamification, too. Forest plants virtual seeds that grow into trees the longer you stay off your phone.

Extensions can also help you use sites like Facebook and YouTube in more targeted ways. Distraction Free YouTube removes recommended videos from sidebars to keep you from getting sucked in. News Feed Eradicator blurs out Facebook posts for users who want to use the app only as a utility for things like events and groups. The Facebook Demetricator extension hides like, comment, and share numbers to keep you from fixating on feedback and rewards cycles.