Why Most Phone Addiction Fixes Fail You

You're addressing the action, not the desire

Are you also addicted to your phone? Have TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube got their tendrils in you? Or maybe it’s a game or some other addictive app. It doesn’t matter which; your smartphone has gotten smart enough to keep you on it for hours and hours, but you want it to stop. Here's a summary of most of the advice you'll get off the internet:

1. Use limits on your screen time

2. Delete the time-wasting app(s)

3. Install an app that pauses before you open the app

4. Put your phone in greyscale mode

5. Turn off notifications 

6. Create No-Phone Zones

7. Schedule Phone-Free Time

8. Buy a dumb phone with no access to an app store

For me and likely many other people these restraints often stop working after a few days or months. I speculate that these are the reasons why:

1. You habitually find reasons to ignore the app limit

2. You find a reason to re-download the app or get addicted to a new one

3. You get used to the pause before using the app

4. You find an occasion where you need to see the color and forget to turn it back off

5. You put notifications back on to avoid missing something important

6. You encounter moments when you need your phone during phone-free zone

7. You run into situations where you need your phone during phone-free time

8. You run into too many limitations with the dumbphone

These methods keep failing because they are trying to attack the action of using your phone instead of the desire to use your phone. The desire is what needs to be addressed, not the action that results from it.

For a lot of people, this desire likely comes from boredom. You need something to mentally stimulate you. The phone is the easiest pathway your brain has figured out to relieve that discomfort.

For others, it could be loneliness. The emptiness this creates could temporarily be filled with the pseudo-relationships formed via social media.

These, and myriad other reasons, could be channeling your desire towards using the smartphone, and eventually, they become habits. But you can do something about it.

Instead of the straightforward methods outlined above, my suggestion is a little loose but more nuanced: find something to do that’s more fulfilling than using your phone.

It helps if you can do it in similar bursts, at any location, and at your convenience. Maybe it’s reading, meditation, socializing, or engaging in a hobby. It also helps if this action directly addresses the desire you’ve been channeling into your phone.

It's up to you to determine what desire your phone is filling and what fulfilling activity to take up instead - I know the most annoying advice is often the most generic, but it’s also often the truest.

I can share that for me, it’s been writing like this. It helps me channel my creativity, and I can do it in short bursts anywhere. Other times, it’s meditation, because I think it’s aiding in my ability to deal with silence.

Whatever you figure out for yourself is subject to trial and error, but I believe you can figure it out. I think you can outsmart your smartphone.