Using settings, practices, and principles.
Free time is the most valuable resource available, yet a lot of it gets taken by unproductive, worthless screen time. Life passes by while staring at the screen—social interactions missed or ruined, improvement opportunities forgone. But we never notice nor appreciate the harm these devices are doing to our lives.
Minimizing the amount of unproductive time spent on screens leads to more time spent in the real world, and even if that time is unproductive, it's probably less unproductive than the screen time.
These are specific to iPhones running iOS. Results may vary. Use none, one, some, or all.
Summary is straightforward: make the phone as boring, inconvenient, and uninviting as possible by minimizing aesthetics and attention-grabbing methods.
The list in order of decreasing effectiveness (the top one is most effective, bottom least):
Setting the phone's color scheme to grayscale makes the phone extremely boring to look at.
Instructions:
To make it easy to toggle on and off, there are two options: triple-clicking the side button or (paths diverge with slashes)
Blocking distracting websites makes it inconvenient enough that the question "do I really need to do this right now?" is asked.
Minimize the amount of notifications that are shown on the screen. Examples of needed notifications are phone calls, messages, and emails. Examples of unneeded notifications are dating app messages, fitness apps, etc.
Turn them off as needed:
Notification sounds should not be pleasant (but they need not be unpleasant). Experiment with the notification sounds to see which one is the most neutral.
Turn off keyboard feedback:
Minimize the amount of emails that can pop up on the screen by setting up filters. Notifications that an item has shipped or a regular bill should be placed into their own folder without notifying the receiver.
Apps that are used on a frequent basis (Phone, Messages, email) should be placed on the bottom-most row of the home screen. All other apps should be placed into a folder.
Apps can also be removed from the home screen without being deleted from the phone. Just press-and-hold an app and select "Remove From Home Screen". Search for it when needed.
Delete social media apps and games. The only apps on the phone should be those that serve a productive purpose.
Set a long, inconvenient passcode that must be entered every time the phone is unlocked. This should be a strong password that includes capital and non-capital letters, numbers, and special characters.
Minimize aesthetic movements on the phone screen:
Turn off Siri suggestions:
Keep the phone out of sight when not in use. This can mean in a pocket while with friends, in a bag or the other room while at home, or in the backseat while driving. Notifications can be turned on loud to ensure it is heard when needed.
My friends (well, me, really) play a game called "Friends, Not Phones" at dinner where everyone's phones are put screen-down, silent-mode-on in the middle of the table to ensure everyone is present. While not necessary out of sight, it does prevent usage!
Tell others that you're trying to spend less time on your phone and ask them to let you know if you are doing it around them.
Gamify screen time numbers by setting and achieving time goals each week. Note this may be challenging due to the variability of required/productive phone time (e.g., looking at driving directions, FaceTiming a friend, etc.). It may help to choose specific categories to improve upon so there is obvious distinction.
Cal Newport proposes three principles in his Digital Minimalism:
Digital minimalists recognize that cluttering their time and attention with too many devices, apps, and services creates an overall negative cost that can swamp the small benefits that each individual item provides in isolation.
Digital minimalists believe that deciding a particular technology supports something they value is only the first step. To truly extract its full potential benefit, it’s necessary to think carefully about how they’ll use the technology.
Digital minimalists derive significant satisfaction from their general commitment to being more intentional about how they engage with new technologies. This source of satisfaction is independent of the specific decisions they make and is one of the biggest reasons that minimalism tends to be immensely meaningful to its practitioners.
One more to add (which can probably be lumped in with one of the above with enough thought): I want to experience the physical, analog world and all it has to offer. I don't want to be glued to my screen while there are so many experience opportunities out there.
I implemented most of these on 1 January 2024 and will report back on their efficacy on 1 January 2025.
While I am not setting any screen time metrics, I am 80% confident these will work in making me less addicted to my phone. (I don't think I ever was truly addicted, but I definitely had a reliance and need for it.)