It’s simply about unhooking your brain from the harmful routines it has adopted around this particular device, and hooking it to better things.Ĭatherine encouraged me to set up mental speed bumps so that I would be forced to think for a second before engaging with my phone. The point isn’t to get you off the internet, or even off social media - you’re still allowed to use Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms on a desktop or laptop, and there’s no hard-and-fast time limit. Instead, her program focuses on addressing the root causes of phone addiction, including the emotional triggers that cause you to reach for your phone in the first place. I’m a tech columnist, and while I don’t begrudge anyone for trying more extreme forms of disconnection, my job prevents me from going cold turkey. Thankfully, Catherine’s plan is more practical. You can now buy $299 “digital detox” packages at luxury hotels or join the “ digital sabbath” movement, whose adherents vow to spend one day a week using no technology at all. Others focus on cutting out screens entirely for weeks on end. Some of those solutions involve new devices - such as the “Light Phone,” a device with an extremely limited feature set that is meant to wean users off time-sucking apps. Digital wellness is a budding industry these days, with loads of self-help gurus offering miracle cures for screen addiction. I confess that entering phone rehab feels clichéd, like getting really into healing crystals or Peloton.
#My addiction how to
I called Catherine Price, a science journalist and the author of “ How to Break Up With Your Phone,” a 30-day guide to eliminating bad phone habits. But I always relapsed.Įventually, in late December, I decided that enough was enough. I tried various tricks to curb my usage, like deleting Twitter every weekend, turning my screen grayscale and installing app-blockers. Social media made me angry and anxious, and even the digital spaces I once found soothing (group texts, podcasts, YouTube k-holes) weren’t helping. My symptoms were all the typical ones: I found myself incapable of reading books, watching full-length movies or having long uninterrupted conversations. But sometime last year, I crossed the invisible line into problem territory. I’ve been a heavy phone user for my entire adult life. But for most of us, it hasn’t happened yet.
#My addiction portable
We might someday evolve the correct biological hardware to live in harmony with portable supercomputers that satisfy our every need and connect us to infinite amounts of stimulation. Unlike alcohol or opioids, phones aren’t an addictive substance so much as a species-level environmental shock. I don’t love referring to what we have as an “addiction.” That seems too sterile and clinical to describe what’s happening to our brains in the smartphone era. My name is Kevin, and I have a phone problem.Īnd if you’re anything like me - and the statistics suggest you probably are, at least where smartphones are concerned - you have one, too.
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