I struggle with the same. A few months back I read 'Stolen Focus' by Johan Hari...its a very thought provoking read on whats controlling our use of screen time. I think i need to read it annually!
Having notifications turned of is the best. Ive had them turned off well before it became a thing because I foun it to overwhelming to see them when I finished up a stint of 3 to 4 sometimes 5 hours massaging.
Thanks Clare. Yeah, I've turned a lot of mine off too and often put my phone into Airplane mode to stop them all together. Will have look. Did you do it?
That Saturday on the chart has a lot of phone time... looks like if you cut that one day down you'll get close to your goal!
I find Instagram the worst. I only have a personal account to see what the Wallabies are up to, but as soon as you open it you are faced with lots of other enticing sports videos that are not needed but very tempting!
Hey Ben. Good call! Was watching YouTube and mindlessly scrolling after big week, so will channel my effort into Saturdays and staying away from my phone. Yeah, Instagram know how to hook people with engaging content. Not sure if you use TikTok, but I hear its even more addictive! Big part of why I never signed up
After your post I checked my own screen time and realised I'm better than I thought.
I credit that to getting off Facebook 10 years ago! But I have also just removed Instagram from my phone (after reading your post!) to stop the tempting scrolling.
Luckily never used tiktok...
Of course my screen time is still pretty big on my laptop... but that's usually work related!
Good luck with the screen time reduction mate! IMO not having the native apps installed on your phone is THE BEST tip. You won't get any push notifications etc so you can just log in once or twice a day or whatever and check. I'm a big Twitter user for all things rugby but even I don't have the app on my phone. Just log in via the web browser is enough or from my desktop.
Yeah totally agree. Limiting my twitter checking to when I'm at my desktop will help heaps. Or will it just shift the amount of time I spend at my computer? lol
I have notifications turned off on almost all my apps. It's a simple little trick that I have found to be really effective. It's insane how distracting one little notification can be, especially to a bloke with ADHD. It's kind of empowering. Almost like you're saying, "I'll give you my attention when I choose to, not when you request it."
Great timing on the post. I had gotten somewhat better about my screen time a few years ago when I limited only to Instagram. A year ago I got sucked back into Facebook but don’t see it hurting anything to delete it now and just check it periodically from my home computer.
Cheers mate and that's a great strategy. Those sites all have their benefits, but I think people need to put some constraints around how they use them so maximise the benefits without wasting a ton of time on there.
Yeah, been doing that for a while now and it's massively help. Also been creating rules in my work outlook to automatically delete emails I know dont need my attention.
One thing I have found helpful with Twitter is to start from scratch. I also have numerous accounts set up based on what I am interested in - that way I can choose what I want to see a bit more. For example, I have one set up for following running content, one for politics, one for rugby. I just feel it allows me to avoid the shit that I don’t want to see a bit more, but if something that I want to follow is happening in one of my areas of interest, then I can get the coverage I want a lot more easily.
Both - I feel like it allows me to be targeted about what I want to see so I tend to use the app with intent. It also stops me from spiralling because the distraction feels like much less.
I struggle to accurately track my screen time because I use my phone so much for work. I have noticed though that lately I've just kind of been less interested in socials. Through this little journey I'm on I think I'm realising that a lot of that other bullshit doesn't really matter and I'm genuinely losing interest. I mostly just use it for the blog now.
Most my screen time is spent in the 600 WhatsApp chats you've added me to. Dropping and receiving nuggets. haha.
Yeah. some days my phone doesn't stop. If I'm away from my computer, which is probably 50% of the time, I use it for emails too. Some days I want to frisbee the prick over the fence. No one ever wants to ring me until I'm on the phone to someone else then everyone wants to ring at the same time. You call them straight back and they don't answer. Drives me insane.
Maybe it's a combination of a few things. Substack, realising what is actually important. I'm less concerned with sports results these days too. I think it's relative to the work I'm doing on myself which suggests that maybe I was never really that interested, just wanted the distraction from my thoughts.
I spent a fair bit of time on the phone too (10hrs 29min avg) mainly on LinkedIn to understand connections and Google for researching the gaps find. I’ll put my phone down when LEAF has 1mil users in Australia.
Hey Ben,
I struggle with the same. A few months back I read 'Stolen Focus' by Johan Hari...its a very thought provoking read on whats controlling our use of screen time. I think i need to read it annually!
Agreed! Such a great book
Any Johann content is brilliant. All of it.
Hey Charley! I haven't but I'll add it to the list. Loved his 'Lost Connections' and saw him speak when he came to Canberra in 2019.
Having notifications turned of is the best. Ive had them turned off well before it became a thing because I foun it to overwhelming to see them when I finished up a stint of 3 to 4 sometimes 5 hours massaging.
On anothe note a friend share this course with me that might interest you. Research and learning at the same time. https://www.ecentreclinic.org/things-you-do-course
Most of mine are permanently turned off. One notification can distract me for half an hour. I don't need that shit.
Context switching from getting distracted is the enemy of getting shit done. Keen to hear what you think of this 2 min video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRWE10W1TE4
Yeah, I like that. I need to get heaps better at it!
Also, get an Android phone. Ive tried to use the substack chat function annnnd it's not available on Android yet 😂
Thanks Clare. Yeah, I've turned a lot of mine off too and often put my phone into Airplane mode to stop them all together. Will have look. Did you do it?
I got an email yesterday to say I was accepted into the things you do course :) So will be doing it for personal and professional development.
Hey Ben,
That Saturday on the chart has a lot of phone time... looks like if you cut that one day down you'll get close to your goal!
I find Instagram the worst. I only have a personal account to see what the Wallabies are up to, but as soon as you open it you are faced with lots of other enticing sports videos that are not needed but very tempting!
Cheers,
Ben
Hey Ben. Good call! Was watching YouTube and mindlessly scrolling after big week, so will channel my effort into Saturdays and staying away from my phone. Yeah, Instagram know how to hook people with engaging content. Not sure if you use TikTok, but I hear its even more addictive! Big part of why I never signed up
After your post I checked my own screen time and realised I'm better than I thought.
I credit that to getting off Facebook 10 years ago! But I have also just removed Instagram from my phone (after reading your post!) to stop the tempting scrolling.
Luckily never used tiktok...
Of course my screen time is still pretty big on my laptop... but that's usually work related!
Good luck with your target!
Ben
Good luck with the screen time reduction mate! IMO not having the native apps installed on your phone is THE BEST tip. You won't get any push notifications etc so you can just log in once or twice a day or whatever and check. I'm a big Twitter user for all things rugby but even I don't have the app on my phone. Just log in via the web browser is enough or from my desktop.
Yeah totally agree. Limiting my twitter checking to when I'm at my desktop will help heaps. Or will it just shift the amount of time I spend at my computer? lol
I just hate twitter on computers though. Dunno why.
I have notifications turned off on almost all my apps. It's a simple little trick that I have found to be really effective. It's insane how distracting one little notification can be, especially to a bloke with ADHD. It's kind of empowering. Almost like you're saying, "I'll give you my attention when I choose to, not when you request it."
100%. We need to control our attention and only give it to things when were ready and on our terms.
Great timing on the post. I had gotten somewhat better about my screen time a few years ago when I limited only to Instagram. A year ago I got sucked back into Facebook but don’t see it hurting anything to delete it now and just check it periodically from my home computer.
Cheers mate and that's a great strategy. Those sites all have their benefits, but I think people need to put some constraints around how they use them so maximise the benefits without wasting a ton of time on there.
Unsubscribe to emails you keep getting but don’t need to see.
Yeah, been doing that for a while now and it's massively help. Also been creating rules in my work outlook to automatically delete emails I know dont need my attention.
One thing I have found helpful with Twitter is to start from scratch. I also have numerous accounts set up based on what I am interested in - that way I can choose what I want to see a bit more. For example, I have one set up for following running content, one for politics, one for rugby. I just feel it allows me to avoid the shit that I don’t want to see a bit more, but if something that I want to follow is happening in one of my areas of interest, then I can get the coverage I want a lot more easily.
Interesting, never heard that strategy before. Does it reduce the time you spend on twitter? Or just makes for a better experience?
Both - I feel like it allows me to be targeted about what I want to see so I tend to use the app with intent. It also stops me from spiralling because the distraction feels like much less.
I struggle to accurately track my screen time because I use my phone so much for work. I have noticed though that lately I've just kind of been less interested in socials. Through this little journey I'm on I think I'm realising that a lot of that other bullshit doesn't really matter and I'm genuinely losing interest. I mostly just use it for the blog now.
Most my screen time is spent in the 600 WhatsApp chats you've added me to. Dropping and receiving nuggets. haha.
I have to use my phone for work too, but I think it's like food tracking and doesn't need to be 100% to not get huge benefit from doing it.
Interested to hear your becoming less interested in social because I'm starting to feel the same. Coincidence?
Hahaha re WhatsApp. I've silenced the notifs, but still like checking what's happening in there during my breaks.
Yeah. some days my phone doesn't stop. If I'm away from my computer, which is probably 50% of the time, I use it for emails too. Some days I want to frisbee the prick over the fence. No one ever wants to ring me until I'm on the phone to someone else then everyone wants to ring at the same time. You call them straight back and they don't answer. Drives me insane.
Maybe it's a combination of a few things. Substack, realising what is actually important. I'm less concerned with sports results these days too. I think it's relative to the work I'm doing on myself which suggests that maybe I was never really that interested, just wanted the distraction from my thoughts.
😂😂😂 group chats
Benny hates w group chat! I’m the same though! Like communities in ya pocket!
Do I ever! hahaha
I spent a fair bit of time on the phone too (10hrs 29min avg) mainly on LinkedIn to understand connections and Google for researching the gaps find. I’ll put my phone down when LEAF has 1mil users in Australia.