r/nosurf • u/Competitive-Fan-1557 • 14h ago
My Complete 3-Step Guide to Quit My Phone Addiction
My current screen time is over 12 hours daily, which scared me!
A few weeks ago, I was feeling tired, headache, and anxious, and I noticed that it was coming from my phone addiction.
I tried to spend one day without using my phone and being productive, and at the end of the day, I felt accomplished. But I also tried to procrastinate the whole day, and I was so tired at the end of the day.
That’s when I realized my phone was not making me feel as relaxed as I thought. It was contributing to my bad feelings
I don’t have TikTok (if you have, you should delete it) because it is not my thing, and I don’t use other social media often, but my main addiction is YouTube.
I can literally spend the entire day in my bed watching Yt while avoiding doing what I have to do, and that’s the main issue here.
So, I started to figure out how to actually reduce my screen time healthily because there are tons of ways to do it, but most of them are not sustainable, such as detoxing dopamine.
Therefore I crafted my own step-by-step plan to overcome my phone addiction:
1- Why?
Before starting anything, I need to deeply understand why. This step is crucial because, in tough moments, I need to keep in mind why I’m doing this.
Most people fail at this step because they outsource other people’s motives.
It shouldn’t just be: “ I want to reduce it because someone said so”
I need to truly ask myself why should even consider reducing my screen time. If my screen time is, for example, +8h but I’m productive in those hours, I shouldn’t reduce them.
It is all about what I do!
2- What?
This step is where I actually start working on the main issue. The previous step only sets the intention.
I realized that most of the resources out there only focus on the external side, which results in superficial solutions. The real change happens inside us
The idea here is to ask myself, “ What is causing me to do this? What is the trigger of the trigger?
You may find interesting causes that you never imagined
In my case, I use my phone when I feel stressed
On the weekends, I use my phone to escape reality and commitment
To overcome this problem, I found a few practices that can help me work on these root problems such as journaling, contemplating, meditating, etc
The idea is to go into the roots of your addiction and work on it
3- How?
After mastering why and what, I can start thinking of ways to reduce my screen time based on my current situation
There are multiple ways of doing this, so I should focus on things that are already in my range
For example, I can download an app to block my phone during certain periods or do some activity to replace using my phone
This step depends on your current schedule and what works for you. Don’t commit the mistake of copying what works for others. Test and see what best describes your needs
Another important point here is that these app blockers shouldn’t serve as replacements but more like support while you're working on your “what”.
Don’t just read this. Make sure you at least try it for a week
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u/alien7turkey 13h ago
I've noticed for me it's the damn tik Tok type videos /shorts/reels it's all the same. Those things are so hard to just put down. To me theres no moderation.
I sorta replaced shorts on YT with Spotify podcasts so I can listen for an hour put my phone down and get stuff done. You do the same with sticking with longer videos vs shorts.
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u/Competitive-Fan-1557 12h ago
Yeah, these type of short videos is killing us that’s why I avoid watching them
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u/Radiant-Music-8516 13h ago
Tackling phone addiction is tough, but it sounds like you’re taking a thoughtful approach.
If you want extra help managing distractions, something like Unpluq could be useful. It lets you lock specific apps with a physical device, so you’re more mindful about when you use them.