GoKawiilThe mindless pull of the infinite scrolling social media feed has a way of turning every spare moment into a lost hour. It starts as a quick check for a notification or a brief distraction during a work break, but these apps are engineered to keep you trapped in a loop of "just one more."
Before long, that reflex to reach for your phone becomes an automatic response to any second of boredom, leaving you stuck in a cycle of digital noise that is hard to break with willpower alone.
I miss the feeling of calm that comes with being without a smartphone. And I'm not the only one. A Pew Research survey from 2024 found that 72% of US teens say they feel "peaceful" when they don't have their smartphone, while 44% say it makes them anxious.
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But switching off is hard. Crucial personal and banking information is tied to my phone, and I'd still need it occasionally even if I tried switching to a second, simpler device.
So instead of breaking free, I found ways to reduce my screen time and phone addiction. I wish I could say it was through willpower, but nope. I relied on some of the same technology to get away from it.
I used my iPhone's built-in features to curb my phone usage. It's not a perfect solution, but these methods have helped me lower my screen time without swapping to a dumb phone.
Set up your iPhone for fewer distractions
Personally, these social media apps cause a lot of distraction. Prakhar Khanna/CNET
If your phone addiction isn't extreme, you can set up your iPhone to be less distracting.
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