If you are addicted to a smartphone: How, finally, to get off the screen
alexander savina
Dependence on the smartphone is not yet included to the International Classification of Diseases, but for people who have an uncontrollable desire to constantly check whether there are no new notifications or messages, this is not easier. Dealing with the causes of addiction and dealing with it is always better with the help of a specialist - but in the case of dependence on a smartphone, it is impossible not to take into account that applications are specially created so as to attract attention and force you to return to them again and again.
Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, for example, once said that a social network exploits human vulnerability and gives users a “dose of dopamine,” because of which they are returning to the social network. The good news is that you can fight this: talk about several tricks that will help build a healthier relationship with your own smartphone.
Understand the notifications
Tristan Harris, a former Google ethical design expert, says that when the first push notifications just appeared, their goal was to make the user check the phone less — for example, not update the mail to see if something new had arrived. Now this position seems at least strange: a huge number of applications send pushy - and it’s strange to think that this was done only for the sake of our convenience. It is unlikely that you will refuse calls, SMS and messenger messages (after all, the phone was coined for communication), but it is worth remembering that many applications only imitate communication.
For example, Twitter sends notifications that one of your friends has published something or has liked someone else's post, and Facebook can report that a friend has written something in the community where you both are members. In such cases, it seems that a friend is addressing you personally, but in reality this is not the case - communication never happens. So the first step towards lesser use of the phone can be the refusal of “non-personal” notifications - in the end, the tweet that all your friends clicked on can be read in the evening.
Try to get rid of the color
Perhaps you are used to not noticing this, but the bright colors of icons and notifications are also needed in order to attract our attention. This is partly why the red "sticker" notifications for the iPhone (or, for example, orange for some smartphones on the android) can be so annoying: remember how often you opened the application just so that there was no bright circle with a digit on the screen.
The iPhone and some smartphones on the android allow you to get rid of this in an unexpected way - put the phone in black and white mode (most often this is done via the "universal access" or "special features" item in the settings); if there is no such option, special applications will come to the rescue. Yes, the notifications themselves will remain - but perhaps in black and white they will no longer be so interesting and will help to postpone viewing messages. Although, of course, infinitely update the Facebook tape, when you have already opened the application, it does not hurt.
Evaluate how much vibration and sound you need.
Studies show that even short notifications that we decide not to pay attention distract us and interfere with other tasks. So if you have an important work assignment, consider how much you need the sound and vibration of the phone (if you think that the silent mode is not distracting, remember how the entire open space turns around when someone has a long and loud vibrating smartphone on the table).
It may be much more productive to temporarily turn off the sound effects and calmly go about your business. There are other options - for example, enable "do not disturb" or night mode, which allow you to receive calls only from selected contacts (so you will surely be calm that you do not miss anything really important), or temporarily disable notifications of the most active chats - you and so you know what a long controversy online could be.
Be careful with endless scrolling.
Infinite scrolling is another trick that helps to “pull” you into the smartphone. Tristan Harris compares it with the effect of slot machines: due to the fact that we do not know what information will fall out to us after updating the tape - pleasant or not so much - we so quickly sit down for a regular update. The main thing here is the effect of surprise, without it we would be much calmer about what is happening (for example, you hardly update news sites endlessly - of course, something important can happen at any time, but there is no effect of unpredictability).
In addition, the endless scrolling implies that there is no end point: if you look at the site, divided into pages, you realize how much you have read and how much more you have in front, then in the endless field of a long ribbon it is easy to get lost. It also includes the autoplay that everyone using Netflix or YouTube is used to: it’s very difficult to stop watching another episode of your favorite show when it’s already started.
Track triggers
Each of us has our own "pain points" - try to track down what makes you stick on the phone. Applications of social networks that are so convenient to open at any time? Try to hide them away (for example, in separate folders on the desktop) or delete them altogether. This does not mean that you stop logging into Facebook, but doing it through the mobile version is more difficult and much less convenient, so you will have time to think a hundred times whether you really need it.
Refuse notifications that are more harmful than good - for example, if you receive dozens of letters every day, it is easier to check your mail every few hours than to start every time you start a new push and see how important the question is in the subject of the letter. If you spend whole evenings at home in social networks from boredom, think about what else you could do - it may very well be that a good book will be much more interesting than the hundredth update of the Instagram tape.
Make passwords longer
The more obstacles to the notorious “dose of dopamine”, the greater the chance that you change your mind - or at least think about how much you really need it. Try to make passwords longer: choose a long set of numbers or a complex pattern to unlock the screen, put long, complex and diverse passwords in different social networks (this is especially useful if you delete applications and are forced to use mobile versions) and so on. The locked screen still allows you to use many functions (for example, listen to music), but does not allow the tape to be thoughtlessly scrolled. At the same time, evaluate how much you need these or other widgets - or they only add information noise.
Watch for sensations
Finally, another important technique that many people forget is to listen to their own feelings. When once again plunge into the smartphone, estimate, how much you are comfortable. What position are you in? Is breathing even? Do you really want to do this now and are you satisfied - or, on the contrary, do you think that you are bored and you do not know what to do? When you realize that you really feel, it will be much easier to act further.
For example, if you notice that reading Facebook for many hours is the only thing that helps you to relax (and that you have enough energy) after a hard day, is it so bad and is it worth condemning yourself? And vice versa: if you understand that you use your smartphone so much and so often, because you do not know what you are interested in and what you want to devote your free time, has not the time come to think about the changes?