My Attempt To Minimize My Phone Usage Using An App...On My Phone | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

My Attempt To Minimize My Phone Usage Using An App...On My Phone

Baby steps, right?

142
My Attempt To Minimize My Phone Usage Using An App...On My Phone

We go everywhere together, and we have a great time. We talk about current events and watch movies together. We do a leisurely scroll through Twitter and Instagram together daily. We have great communication skills. We sleep next to each other every night and check in with each other each morning. We are always there for each other and have been.

Above is not the description of a seemingly perfect relationship. It is actually describing how my phone and I function and seemingly always have.

I did not think I was addicted to technology. I thought I had a rather healthy relationship with my phone and then there was Screen Time. After finally getting around to updating my phone, I was simply curious about an app used to monitor your app use. I thought it was interesting to see how much time I actually spend with my phone in my hands. It monitors your app usage and how many times you pick up your phone in an hour. It evens give you an hour to hour breakdown and shows how the trends in your usage have shifted over the week.

Then, I saw my Screen Time data and my curiosity was replaced with minor shock. To give you an estimate, I spend four hours on my phone. I also pick up my phone 84 times a day. Yes, I am abroad, and I Google basically every single menu item I come across and sometimes even have to Google how to get back to my hostel, but that does not take four hours. Four hours is an obscene time to be spent on my phone.

So, I decided to limit the time I spend on the apps (you can also do that with this app). I set custom times for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It gives you a 5minute warning and then a screen with an hourglass appears telling you time has expired.

I even set it to have my phone go into "Downtime" between certain hours and I also throw on "Do Not Disturb" during that block just for good measure. I can still have access to all of my apps, but it makes you select "Ignore Limit" and then it will load.

I am definitely more cognizant of how many times I pick up my phone, but honestly, I have not seen a drastic improvement in my phone habits. I do read before bed now, which never happens. I also make myself less available once it hits a certain hour. Baby steps, right?

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

4681
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

303310
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments