New Year, Same Phone Addiction: Here’s What I’m Doing About It

I’m addicted to my phone and so are you

Photo by Fili Santillán on Unsplash

I’m addicted to my phone and so are you… assuming you’re in the 99% of humans who use social media and have endorphins. It’s a tricky subject, because we’re all addicted, and it’s not fun to acknowledge or wrestle with that truth.

For most of us, our screen time data is disturbing, yet we go back to the well every time our friend leaves the table to go to the bathroom.

Then we check it again when we go to the bathroom.

Daily, I’m guilty of picking up my phone for a specific reason, then 10 minutes later thinking why the fuck did I grab my phone?

I’m trying to tango with this truth, so I decided to do something real about it. For years I was in the “thoughts and prayers” camp for my own addiction, hoping (with no reason for optimism) that I would be better about it the next day. That I would spend less time with my pocket computer.

Instead of hoping, I started putting my phone to bed at night in its own room. Every night around 11:30, I put my phone on the charger in the kitchen, and then finish watching or reading whatever I am being entertained by. I started doing this in November, and it’s made a huge impact on…