Stop scrolling and reduce your screen time with these 20 tips

Apple and Android offer the ability to monitor your screen time, and knowing is half the battle. Before you make a concerted effort to minimize your screen time, spend a week monitoring your use. Once you have those results, you can better understand where you're wasting your time — and where you can improve. 

Wanting to reduce your screen time is easy to say and much more challenging to accomplish. If you try to drastically reduce your screen time too quickly, you'll likely return to your old habits sooner rather than later. Try to reduce your screen time gradually — maybe by an hour per day each week. 

When your phone is sitting at your side at all times, it's easy to pick it up absent-mindedly. If you find yourself picking up your phone to scroll for no reason, consider keeping it in another room for a few hours. Then, you'll have to decide if whatever you want to see on Instagram is worth getting off the couch. 

If you spend hours scrolling your favorite retailers, an online shopping hiatus is a great way to reduce your screen time. Commit to only shopping in person for a month, or try a "no-buy" challenge. Your wallet — and your brain — will thank you. 

Unless it is a seriously urgent matter, it's almost assured that whatever email you're responding to from your phone can wait. Try to check your email only on an actual computer, and the same goes for other work platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. 

Sometimes, a challenge can make breaking a habit a little bit easier. Find a friend who's also looking to minimize their screen time and cheer each other on — or engage in a little friendly bet to see who can make the most progress. 

Whether you use Apple or Android, both operating systems offer the ability to limit your use of any apps. Consider setting time limits of 30 minutes (or less!) for the apps you spend the most time on, and stick to those limits. 

It can be easy to get caught up in a cycle of doom-scrolling through the news in times like these. Set aside 15-to-30 minutes each morning to catch up with the news, then move on to other tasks. 

Having apps for every social media platform on your phone makes it much easier to get stuck staring at them all day. Consider deleting the apps you use most and watch your screen time decline. (And, if worse comes to worst, you can always access Facebook or email via your phone's web browser.) 

If you find yourself getting distracted by work emails or watching too many Instagram Reels in the evenings, silence your notifications and make a point to do something you enjoy, whether that's catching up on a favorite show or heading out for a post-dinner walk. 

Too many notifications can feel overwhelming. Most of the time, they're not as helpful as you think. Turning off push notifications can help you break the cycle of feeling like you need to address every single email or tweet in real time. 

If you can, carve out a few hours each day where you can totally separate yourself from your phone. Turn it off, stick it in a drawer, and spend that time engaging in your favorite hobbies. Even if you can start with 30 minutes a day, it is a great launching pad for reducing your screen time. 

Studies indicate that turning your phone to greyscale mode can make watching videos or scrolling social media feeds less appealing. You can schedule a time to put your phone in greyscale each evening or try keeping it that way for a few days to see if it impacts your screen time. 

When you're bored in the evenings or on a lazy Sunday afternoon, it's easy to spend a few hours scrolling your phone. Making plans — even if it's just an hour of crafting with your kids or a self-care manicure — will help keep you occupied and away from the doom-scrolling. 

Because boredom is such a key factor in many of us ending up stuck on our phones, a new hobby is a decidedly better way to occupy that time. You don't have to spend a lot of cash to try your hand at knitting or learning how to cook a new cuisine, and you'll definitely have more fun than staring at your screen. 

Sure, you could read a book on your phone's Kindle app, or you could head to the library to check out that book for free — and enjoy holding a book in your hands. You could also listen to some vinyl records instead of Spotify or break out that copy of Scrabble lingering around in your closet for family game night. 

Most of us use our phone as an alarm clock, meaning we're staring at the device from the moment we open our eyes every single day. Consider swapping it out for an old-school alarm clock — they are inexpensive, and you won't have to worry about putting it on the charger every single night. 

Now that streaming apps abound and YouTube is one of the globe's most popular entertainment platforms, many of us spend hours each day watching videos on our phones. Try to keep your movie/TV watching to the actual television, and watch your screen time decrease substantially. 

The research is clear: our cell phones are addictive, and so are the apps on them. You may have trouble disconnecting from your phone, which can be discouraging. Even if you start with just 30 minutes or an hour more away from your phone than before, that's still a win you can build on. 

Teens and adults alike are finding their way back to the old-school flip phone, largely because they're looking to reduce their screen time and simplify their lives. If you simply can't tear yourself away from your phone, give a flip phone a shot for a few days and see if you prefer this low-tech solution.