According to recent studies, Americans check their phones around 80 times per day. Not only that, but on average, people will spend around 2-3 hours glued to their device. Cell phone addiction is real and has taken over today’s society.

texting cell phone

Some people will even pay their cell phone bill over paying for their rent. Has technology become more important than shelter?

These lunatics need to get their priorities straight!

I looked at my iPhone stats to see where I stood and the truth punched me right in the gut.

I was one of them.

Looking at the break-down, I had, not two, not three, but FOUR HOURS of screen time each day. If I sleep 8 hours each night, this means I am looking at my phone 25% of the day. To top everything, one of the biggest culprits was the Facebook app.

 

cell phone addiction       cell phone addiction

Needless to say, I needed to get help.

It wasn’t easy, but I decided to go cold turkey. This was the easiest way for me to ‘automate’ my phone addiction problem.

I turned my phone off, threw it in my nightstand, and left it there…for 1 WEEK.

The first day was weird. I realized I must have been jonesing for some digital relief, because I found myself hitting my right thigh throughout the entire day.

Eventually, the habit was gone and there was no urge to pick up a cell phone at all. I started to notice how focused I was on everything around me. There wasn’t the annoying buzz in my pocket to look at my social media accounts or answer a phone call from the daily telemarketer.

It was now clear how addicted I was because everyone around me was glued to their phone. In a work meeting, I looked around the room and all 6 coworkers were looking down and swiping away at their device. At a concert later that night, I realized people were more concerned with capturing that perfect ‘Aren’t-you-jealous-I’m-here’ video, rather than enjoying the show. Everywhere I went, I noticed everyone’s cell phone addiction.

There were some challenges without my phone. I was supposed to go to a halloween party at a friends house, but I had to print the directions from google maps. I felt like I was back in middle school again!

map and car keys

 

After the week was over, I started experimenting with tools to eliminate distractions with my cell phone as well as my laptop. By making simple adjustments, I was able to eliminate my cell phone addiction and I saved about 2 hours a week!

I challenge you to try automating the distractions in your life for a day. See how long you can go without your cell phone and see how your life changes. You’ll thank me later!

Also, start eliminating the distractions in your daily routine. Here are 3 tools that you can leverage to help your cell phone addiction:

  1. Adblocker for Chrome (for laptop): Click here to get the AdBlocker Ultimate plugin
  2. Notification Manager: Go to your phone settings and remove any unwanted notification alerts from the apps on your phone.
  3. Telemarketer Blocker: Click here to get RoboKiller

Bonus Tip: Check out our other post to help you save time while surfing the web!

 

Ready – Set – Automate!

Let’s start today:

  1. Take a day (or 7) and leave your phone at home
  2. Let us know what you discovered without the ‘digital time sucker’ at your side
  3. Manage alerts and distractions with the tips above

 

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