As Christmas wraps up for 2024, I glanced at my week’s screen time statistics. They’re not good.

For a time of year designated for recharging and connecting with family, I spent a lot of it on my phone.

Usually, when I feel guilty about my screen usage I explore extreme countermeasures.

Most recently I’ve been looking at “dumbphones". As you might guess, these are very basic phones that support calls and texts. Very similar to the one I had as a 12-year-old back in 2006.

The idea of buying one of these initially feels exciting and freeing. I imagine all the time I’d get back to be able to spend in other ways.

But digging deeper, reality sets in, and I realize there are some smartphone features that I’d struggle to do without.

Of course, this is a spectrum, from features I need for work to features I have a strong want (addiction) for.

The following list describes the functions that I would have significant issues operating in the modern world without:

  • Authenticator apps
  • Google Maps and being able to track bus locations (Dublin bus is always late)
  • Banking apps (my bank requires me to click a prompt on my phone, even when accessing their site on my laptop)
  • Tap payment with my phone (saves me bringing my wallet everywhere)
  • Boarding pass for air travel
  • Group chats

Ultimately, after listing off all the things I find useful about my phone, I know that none of them are things I binge. Cumulatively they all take mere minutes of my day. And some of them do have workarounds, although with less convenience e.g. printing out boarding passes for flights.

This exercise does raise the question, what am I trying to avoid access to by not having a smartphone anymore?

The answer to this question is the true crux of the issue.

A quick review of the Digital Wellbeing section in my phone settings shows that the two repeat offending apps are:

  • Youtube
  • Google Chrome

Every day I spend about 3 to 4 hours on just these two apps combined.

I know Google Chrome is a bit open-ended since it’s just a browser, but I know for a fact that I am mostly accessing Instagram through Chrome. Unfortunately, my measure of deleting the Instagram app to reduce my usage of it only slightly slowed me down in accessing the site and scrolling endlessly.

My use of YouTube has me a bit torn. I genuinely believe a lot of the content I consume there is quite informative and educational. But I can also admit this might just be an excuse for the compulsive consumption of YouTube shorts.

So, what am I doing to try to reduce my screen time?

I’ve tried things like app blockings and notifications that inform you that you’ve spent too long on an app.

They don’t work for me. It’s too easy to override them when the cravings hit.

I also considered the more heavy-hitting applications that take control of your phone and fully block sites for periods of the day. But I’m not a fan of the huge array of permissions you need to grant these apps for them to work.

So my main strategy going forward to combat screen usage is embedding engaging activities as habits into my life so that I reduce the opportunity for phones to fill the boredom void.

For me, this comes in the form of golf and running.

I have been running consistently for the past 12 months and have another half marathon coming up in two weeks. The training for this occupies a significant amount of my time, reducing the windows of opportunity for doomscrolling.

I also joined a golf club last year, and want to increase the time I spend golfing this year.

Dedicating myself to both these activities is certain to keep me busy, and the more time I am busy the less time I have spare for my phone.

Of course, rest and idle time is important too. You can’t just run around like a headless chicken to avoid your phone.

That’s why I am continuing to train myself to pick up a book whenever I am at home and feel the pull of boredom.

Ultimately this comes down to living in touch with my values of fitness, learning, and not wasting my time. So filling my life with activities that are in line with these values will consequentially reduce my screen time.

It’s not about removing (phone use), but rather about adding positive experiences to my life.

This is a much more fulfilling path to follow.