Turning screen time into a time for a new hobby or habit is crucial to society and especially teens. For me I can see the active change in my mood when I spend an excessive amount of time on my phone. And seeing my screen time makes me feel even worse.
Experts have said and proven that the more time we spend with our face in our phone the less happy we are. It also has been shown that levels of happiness amongst teens has dropped since 2012. With this information we want to see and recognize that we are suffering. We are all being dragged through the endless loop of an addiction to our phones. Understanding that happiness can and does come from outside activities like reading, sports, going for walks, drawing, or doing something that gets your brain working different than how it’s used when you’re on your phone. It is also seen that teens can be less happy if they use their phones too rarely also. We just want to make sure we are using a balanced amount of time on and off our phone.
For me setting a goal or even downtime in my settings to just put my phone down is helpful. When I set a downtime on my phone I am reminded that I don’t need to be on my phone every second of the day. Don’t get me wrong doing this can be easier said than done for me, but learning to just leave my phone behind when I go out, delete an app I’m on a lot for a few days or weeks, or even as personal and crazy as it sounds leaving my phone behind when I go to the bathroom. Setting personal boundaries helps me celebrate little wins in my head like how long I went without my phone or a specific app.
Something else we want to be mindful about is not just our screentime but how many times a day we pick up our phones. I find myself always picking up my phone even when a notification hasn’t popped up on my phone. I actually just pick it up to check my notifications even though I know I didn’t receive anything. It’s an addiction to having to feel like I need to see or hear everything . Keeping a note in my head to help me be more conscious about how many times I pickup my phone or how many hours a day I spend on my phone is the first step to helping me. It’s not about cutting these things out completely but reducing the amount for it to be healthier to my mental health and happiness.