I don't think I have better control over my screen time. I think it has brought awareness for me to manage my next steps and that I need a much needed tech cool down. 

As a former cigarette smoker it is a tic that I have when I feel the need to manage anxiety or time. I don’t necessarily want to go on but it is something that I latch on to to feel better but it only makes me feel worse. 

  

Hardest was no notifications cause then I felt the urge to look more!

I think it brought awareness to how I have zero to no attention.

I think I will delete IG for a while so I shift the relationship to my phone 

My advice for anyone who is trying to digitally decelerate is that we are quite literally addicted and stopping cold turkey is going to be extremely challenging. The harm reduction approach to shift our relationship to our phone is important such as deleting certain apps and maybe only accessing on web browser or turning off notifications so the desire to check isn’t there.  

I do think I have better control over my device and my time; really the most effective thing was just turning off all my notifications besides texts and phone calls.

I think Instagram and my Google news feed are probably the things I will spend the most time mindless time on, so knowing that I should stop scrolling and if I really want to see what a friend is up to to just look for THEM instead of the algorithm’s feed is helpful.

I think they were all challenging!

I don’t really think much changed in my focus or attention or mood honestly - I can end up in an instagram-feed black hole sometimes, but it doesn’t happen often - I have pretty good self-regulation control and awareness, and I’ll notice I’m doing a thing that I feel like I shouldn’t be doing. 

The thing I’m going to keep doing is leaving notifications off for everything but calls, texts and calendar items so I can be contacted by people that need to contact me and know where I’m supposed to be and when.

For anyone else, I really do think turning notifications off is huge - over the weekend, I would see other people’s devices and their constant notifications and it made me think “how can you stand the barrage of visual (and aural! Silence your phone!!) notices?!?”

Here were my most used apps in order:

Spotify, the NYT, messages, mail, instagram, whatsapp, safari, podcasts, and twitter.

I'd be happy to reduce my news (doom scrolling) and social media (boredom scrolling). But I generally feel fine about my use of podcasts and music.

As a parent of three kids, an aging parent, and someone with various job and other responsibilities, I can't quite imagine not being available by text or phone since something is always coming up!

I could, however, due well to reduce my email checking.

Some of the prompts were easier than others (eg: the day we were trying not to use phones on our commute, I brought my kindle to read, but the battery had died!). It wasn't hard for me to do greyscale, track my usage or delete notifications and one app, for example.

Over the years, I have done a few digital decelerations (though we called them something else) with my classes, and I appreciated the chance to do this again!

My advice would be that no matter how you use your phone, awareness is key.  I am frequently not mindful of how I spend time on the phone. this week made me more conscious of every time I picked up my phone.

Did I feel addicted? No, not really, but the use of Laura W.’s word ‘liminal’ in her video reflection was significant as it highlighted how I use my phone when I am in liminal / transitional moments. Much of my input (thinking) and output (creative expression) has to do with the concept of liminality. Therefore, my use of phones during these times seems out of touch with my larger aesthetics and intentions. I am experiencing these liminal moments LESS by looking at my phone. Intention: make an effort to eliminate this conflict by no longer looking at my screen while en route. Intention 2: remove the few regular notifications I receive. No more NYTimes notifications! No more To Good to Go! I like it. Thank you!  Intention 3 & 4: charge in another room;  say farewell to phone earlier, not go to charge right when I sleep. Intention 4: for timed classroom exercises, use a simple stopwatch. Intention 5:  make an effort to check email less frequently on the phone. Intention 6: I will read more about media literacy. More reflections…. The cartoons that were sent as part of the daily challenge informed the above intentions. The cartoons were funny, direct, scary, and wry.  My hardest challenge was the grey scale. I couldn’t stand it and I didn’t do it. The only way it would have helped me use my phone less was by literally destroying my phone or throwing it away. The grey scale was so lacking in aesthetics and I had to go to Ikea that day to get stuff and done is done. I really couldn’t stand it - and I recall my family getting our first color TV (which I remember hurting my eyes as a child), but, the aesthetics of a Smart Phone ally with a color screen. When form and function don’t ally (aka grey scale challenge), that is too much for me. Enough on the grey scale!  I felt positive changes in my focus and attention and mood. An exception: discussing the deceleration and showing them the initial intake form. They weren’t into it. That was a drag.  In terms of advice: here’s a story. When I was sixteen years old, I was traveling in Europe and wanted to arrange to meet my friend Lucy. It was late June. As there was no way to coordinate travel plans (via our parents who had no answering machines? Via letter sent to an ‘American Express Poste Restante’ (look it up!)? Via text or email - far far far in the future.  So… while still in NYC, we agreed to meet on August 5, 12 noon, under the Mona Lisa. Many meals, train rides, borders (for both of us) later, we met. It was an incredible reunion. How grateful I am for that moment. Embedded/emobdied in our agreement were ideals of trust and commitment, patience, calm, and chance. Now? “Oh, hey, can we make it a day earlier/later? Not at all? Can we meet outside the museum? It’s such a nice day… the trains aren’t running on schedule / I need a coffee … and on and on.” And, guess what? If we hadn’t wound up meeting, that would have been CHANCE and AIR, two things that I believe young people need more of. So, in addition to the above, I hope there is some advice in the above story. Go to the CORE of the concern. Which has to do with delight. Become media literate and/or savvy not because it is a challenge to overcome but because it is a beautiful gift! 

I do sometimes spend more time on Instagram than I would like, especially at night when I’m tired. Scrolling through home decor sites is my weakness. 

The grayscale screen was probably the hardest challenge. I’ve become more used to it now and may do this occasionally in the future. 

When my kids are home, I think I will charge my phone out of my bedroom. It feels like a healthier, calmer, more mindful way to end and begin the day. 

Charging my phone out of my bedroom. 

I would advise just giving it a try! Anticipate the awkward, anxious feeling of not having it as a crutch, and try to tolerate that feeling. 

My cell phone behavior was so regular that logging down usage was not really effective in changing or altering my behavior. It was, however, a chance to reflect on what a large portion of my personal time I spend on the phone. Upon looking at my numbers for the week (which I ironically let the phone track for me instead of maintaining the list myself), I realize that I leave a lot of my free time up to the roulette wheel of passive consumption of media using sites like reddit or viewing random pages in lore based websites that interest me. My attempts to decrease my usage are mostly impeded by my desire to relax outside of work hours. I prefer to just turn my planning brain off. I think this is an OK strategy, but not when combined with a random content generator like Reddit. It leads to a random result in my mood or focus for the whole time that I am using my cell phone. It also is a never ending cycle that while distracting and potentially relaxing, tends to spillover into other things I could do that may be more fulfilling. 

I also observed that I spend 50-75 percent of my free time listening to music. I don’t necessarily find this to be a problem as music can keep my thoughts from wandering and my brain from worrying. I even listen to podcasts I have listened to before so that I have sense of comfort when I do not listen to them but merely have them on as background noise. 

BIGGEST CHALLENGES

I found it very hard to keep my phone away from my sleeping area because it is really worked into my bedtime routine. I usually turn podcasts or soothing music on and run it from my phone as a signal that it is time to go bed and get some rest. On reflection, I’m not sure this is a bad use, but I do think I could lock other features of my phone besides music at a certain time of night to keep me from getting distracted by other features of my phone like the comic book reader.

I also found the alarm clock replacement really infuriating. It had way less features than my phone for controlling alarm times as well as the sounds that I want to hear when I wake up. I do love the addition of a clock face that I can look at which is not my phone. 

I also had a lot of trouble tracking my usage through the week. I tried to focus on completing each part every morning, but found it hard to even think about my phone at work. When I got home, I had a hard time thinking about doing anything that seemed like work. My separation between work behavior and home behavior was the largest challenge really. It is almost as if my phone use exists in some weird liminal space where I can’t be bothered to do anything but look at my phone. I am glad this is at least contained to times when I am home and by myself that way no one is relying on me. 

My most frequently used app every day was Messages, which doesn’t surprise me. I’m frequently long-distance with my partner and friends. The hardest challenge was no notifications. The only apps I let notify me on vibrate are the phone functions (texts, calls, facetime), and I frequently put those on Do Not Disturb as well, but I found myself checking my phone more throughout the day without the alerts on, and leaving the screen open longer, because I was still communicating with people.

I liked the grayscale, and I often read a print book on the train anyway, but I read significantly more in print this week than I typically do, because I was focusing on not using my phone on the train.  I didn’t notice a change in my mood, but I’m excited by how much I read. It turns out that leaving my phone in a different room, or being with people, is the best way for me to not reach for it and get distracted.

I don’t know if I have much more control than I did before, though I’m much more aware of those moments I grab for my phone mindlessly. 

I use it primarily as a procrastination or distraction tool to avoid responsibilities and uncomfortable situations. 

I also have a habit of looking up anything I might be wondering at any moment (ex: “who’s that in this show I’m watching, what else have they been in, oh wow look who they’re related to”). I’ve even sometimes gone so far as to stop listening to someone actively in conversation with me to look up something they said (most people surprisingly do not like this). 

Not using my phone on transit. I didn’t plan any alternatives for that day, like bringing a book or sudoku. Though I did bring more non-phone entertainment when I was at the airport this weekend, as a result of this challenge. 

There were moments where not using my phone felt like a really great, intentional choice. Usually at meal times or before bed. That time became more enjoyable and I felt like time wasn’t moving so uncomfortably fast. 

There were other times I felt incredibly annoyed I couldn’t use it, and times when I was searching for an excuse that would be valid enough to break a certain challenge. 

There were also instances where I was trying really hard not to use my phone and the mere presence of one in the room with me - either mine or someone I was with using theirs, would also annoy me. For me, these moments in particular really highlighted just how unhealthy my relationship with my phone has become.

I’m going to keep my phone away from my bed at night. Not only has it made my screen time go down, but I got more sleep last week. 

Deleting Tiktok (which I actually did before this challenge) has been the best thing for me. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to have a healthier relationship with it or use it less, but getting rid of it entirely has been my best option so far.

I would encourage people to try out the screen time/ digital wellbeing features that their phone has, but just being mindful of screen time is the most helpful thing overall. I’ve tried to use app timers, and currently use various focus modes to lock me out of apps. Though I don’t think we can rely on our phones to be the sole thing regulating our phone time. 

That said, I noticed some things:

Before this challenge I had already started a weekly (and weak!) version of keeping Shabbat, which mostly means that my wife and I make a nice meal and don't look at screens for Friday night and Saturday day (reading and walking are big substitutes). This has felt really nice because not only is it a break from phones, it's a break from computers and the internet in general. 

Sorry for copping out halfway through this! It was fun to know that it was happening.

I think what feels most addicting is that I rely on my phone for multiple things, like searching for stuff when it pops in my head, shopping, communicating with family, looking up recipes, creating shopping lists, keeping track of my finances, as well as social media use etc. 

I think the weekend was the hardest part because I spend so much time vegging out on my phone when I’m not working, so it made me reflect on whether I could be spending my time better and making more of an effort to play more with my kid rather than reinforcing how important screens are in our home. (Lots of guilt there).

I think I will try to spend less than 4 hours a day on my phone and set time limits on social media apps moving forward.

The best advice I can give is to not get angry if you don’t accomplish the limitation you set for yourself, but take it step by step and not quit it all cold turkey. Gradually limit the way you use your phone and find alternatives if possible. It’s ok to notice that you’re dependent on your phone and that doesn’t make you a bad person, but you should try and see if that’s behavior you’d like to keep up or change. I guess the first step is realizing whether you see this as “a problem.”