"Addiction" sounds more serious than it is in this case, but as far as I'm concerned that term applies when a behavior does more harm than good, and in the case of my smartphone, well, Carsie said it best:
"My phone is a system
That makes me stupid and mean
With a screen
To sell data and advertising"
I didn't like what it was doing to me and my time so I decided to try doing something about it, and I'm happy to say that it worked. I spend a lot less time on my phone and more time immersed in the world around me. I'm less tired, angry and frustrated than I was before and as much as I thought there would be a downside, there really hasn't been.
First you'll need some tools:
* Books
* A notebook
For the books a mix of fiction, non-fiction, reference and art books worked best for me. Magazines or other physical, read-only media are fine (in fact even records, etc. could work) but whatever it is it's important that it's simple and will "just work" when you need it.
The notebook can be anything you can write something down in. Again it doesn't really matter so long as it works when you need it.
With your tools acquired there's just a few simple rules to follow:
* No phone for one hour after you wake-up
* No phone for one hour before you go to bed
* No phone in the bathroom
* If you feel like you really need to use your phone at these times, write-down what you think you need to do with it in the notebook, then do all the "phone things" at once outside of the "no phone" times
* When you feel the urge to use your phone, grab a book instead.
Do this for a week and you'll probably be surprised just how many times you have to stop yourself from picking-up your phone.
Do this for a month and you'll wonder why you looked at your phone so much before.
Do this for six months and you'll notice just how much time people spend with their face pointed at a phone. To be honest, it starts to feel creepy.
You will probably "relapse" (I do), but when you do it starts to feel "icky" and that ick provides natural feedback to stop. Remember this is about feeling good, not bad or guilty or like a failure. The purpose of this exercise is to break the habit of getting sucked-into the phone world, you are doing it only if you want to, nobody is forcing this on you so you can adjust however you like if it feels right.
I've experienced a number of benefits from this discipline. I'm reading more, I'm writing more and I'm more hopeful. I'm spending more time with people in person, I'm noticing and enjoying nature more, and I'm also spending a lot less time fighting with technology.
Jason J. Gullickson, 2026