I hope that was useful, let me know your favourite method to reduce your screen time below! Thanks to Grammarly for sponsoring the video, supercharge your writing here: grammarly.com/aliabdaal And get my completely free 7 day focus crash course here: go.aliabdaal.com/addicttofocus/yt
Just now thought that I need to come out of my phone addiction and reduce screen time... Ur video was like u have read my mind .... Great !!! Ali ... May u achieve more in ur life... Bye!!
I highly recommend Jomo. You can even connect it to your health app. So you would only be able to access Instagram after 10,000 steps, or after gym session
It's <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="609">10:09</a> PM right now and I have 1hr 47min screentime today. As someone who had 12hr screentime daily in the past. I am so fuc*ing proud of myself.
@@HanaTNT its not how much screen time you have its all about what you did in that screen time. if you catch that your screen time will gradually changes
I have been doing this as long as I remember, but my problems with screetime addiction are typically in daytime, so that is not very useful (for me at least)😅 Otherwise if you often grab your phone while you should be in bed, this might be a very effective technique 🤷♂️
To prevent doom scrolling on Instagram I deleted Instagram off my phone for 3 months. If I wanted to check Instagram I had to use the Instagram website, which made me very intentional when using Instagram. During those 3 months, I also unfollowed every page that was not a person I've met IRL. Since I've done those two things, checking Instagram is not an impulse, and I spend at most 10 minutes at a time on Instagram.
Deleting Instagram helps so much, i delete it every once in a while... And i use it on chrome which is a pain in the a** as it's slow and everything, u can't scroll on reels too which saves a lot of time
One thing that has helped me is dedicating different devices for different purposes. 1. Phone : Work/Convenience 2. Tablet : Social Media and OTT platforms 3. Laptop : Work 4. TV : (same as tablet) Rule: if I want to use social media I can only use my tablet for that. when I really want to focus I can keep my tablet away from me.
Great video Ali! Addictions and procrastination were my worst enemies as well. To everyone who is struggling, I would recommend books. I started with Fast Track to Fortune by Nathan West ( 1-hour read to ease myself into reading) It helped me realize what I needed to focus on. Then I read "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. Keep up good work everybody !
I've read Atomic Habits by James Clear, which is great for fixing your daily routines. Fast Track to Fortune by Nathan West guided me towards The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel, as I noticed some problems with my money management. Read more, and you will know more; that's a real advantage over others.
A really good strategy I learned to keep your phone away from you at night is, to combine putting your phone away with a specific task you do every evening. For example putting your phone away in the kitchen or somewhere to charge or just lay for the night, then going for a walk and afterwards going straight to bed or maybe reading a book and then go to bed or something like that. That way you have a real clean transition and avoid the constant “only one more video…” loop.
i must say that this will mostly end up in failure. the best solution is to find an engaging passion/hobby so that u will ignore ur phones (like reading, learning a music instrument). it works bro
So much time spent in a day in "busywork" just responding to various notifications - messages, emails, etc. I imagine life must have felt much slower before we had access to technology :)
My life was simpler and more enjoyable before 2010, the year I bought my first smartphone. Pros and cons of course, but what’s been unexpected during those 14 years since that day is how EXTREME those pros and cons have been. From true wonder to straight up addiction and back again. 😬
Set app timer and routines! I used to be addicted to watching youtube on the bed. Now my rule is the moment i am lying (on even sitting) on the bed, no more youtube. Also i set 1 hr limit on youtube and 10 mins on rest of social media ! I am also gonna use the rest of your other tips! Thanks Ali! Great video as always!
Ali, I think it's amazing you're addressing this issue! It's a real problem. We need to break free from this constant dopamine rush, it's impacting our mental health. Your tips sound helpful, especially the app blocking ones! 💪
I use a habit tracker for all my bad habits like eating junk food, staying up late, and of course, doomscrolling. Every night I would start my habit tracker, I would feel disappointed in myself whenever I had to mark that I scrolled on social media for too long. Eventually, I was able to recognize doom scrolling as a bad habit after a few minutes and that thought alone was enough to make me close the app. Now I’m a lot more conscious of my time being wasted when I’m scrolling.
I find it hard when you need to post for your small business but when the page opens its super interesting and makes you want to scroll. Also I went on tiktok to find a saved recipe yesterday and I stayed on for 5 more minutes scrolling by accident 😅
Exactly bro, this is seriously big issue n currently no one is talking on it. I don't know why!! But I've been also spending my 6-7 hours/day since 3 to 4 years. Damn 😞😐😑
I put my phone out of my sight when I work, that’s Cupboard, under the pillow, Behind my monitor. It’s useful, when your distraction is out of sight, there will be no cues, cravings, etc.
Yes that is one of the very best exercises, when I actually do it, my screentime drops for at least 65% I guess, one thing that can add efficiency, is to let yourself be helped by someone else, so that person reminds you when you unintentionally grab your phone.
I love your content, but this may be one of the most useful and relevant videos you've done in months. We could all do and be so much more if we didn't have to worry about falling into addiction/mental health traps so often. I clicked on this video so fast!
Dear Ali, this is just one of thousands of videos DESCRIBING the problem. We KNOW the problem and everything about it. But noone can offer a real SOLUTION. You suggest an app, but addicted people can delete an app easily. Furthermore, notifications aren’t the main problem. Putting the smartphone in another room has been suggested countless times, but what should addicted people do? It’s like telling smokers they shouldn’t buy cigarettes. Generally you are just suggesting to behave like there is no addiction and no anxiety and no loneliness. So no, it was not useful at all.
Trying to fight or resist a bad habit never works, one should always try to replace it with new good habit. All the ways or techniques may help one to use phone less, if we have nothing to do after leaving the phone, we will most probably go back to the phone. So the aim should be to adapt the new activity and try to make it a regular habit. And of course these techniques by Ali Abdaal can help you to create more time by using the phone less.
Loved that one. I also use empty homescreens, which means I only have a widghet pack with weather, and calender on ONE AND ONLY homescireen and only chrome, messages, OneNote and Phone at the bottom. Also without any wallpaper, just black. I prefer this instead of grayscale everything. Oh, I every notification is turned OFF ALL THE TIME. They appear in the notification center but not instantly waking up my phone. I found this HUGE!!!! I also DELETED facebook. If I have to see something on any of my joined groups I use chrome and the mobile view version of it. :) Keep up the good work Ali!!! :)
I was wasting so much time scrolling on social media every day. Most of what I saw or read was useless. Thank you for making videos about this because phone addiction is no joke. Also, I signed up for grammarly to improve my emails and writing at work. Its the best decision
Just turn off the wifi router in the house for scheduled times. Only turn it on when you need to access the internet. This makes you very intentional about your internet use in general. Access to Internet is the real culprit which people hardly mention.
I always use Forest(app) or do some reading or just do some exercise!! just get myself away from it ASAP~~ And this video is really useful!! Thank you Ali🤩
I use my phone mainly as a routine app, habit tracking app and time blocking app....and taking photos of my mice. My tablet is for time tracking along with alarms. My PC is for work, gaming, creativity, logging things, journaling, socializing, etc. I find my phone pretty useful for doing a lot of things in my day and keeping my day smooth. I get regular walks and exercise to relax me. If my phone is unresponsive, thats annoying because it keeps a timer going for how long I have to do this task. My tablet has a multimer too but I leave it at my desk. Social media are all time limited so I'm okay there. My gaming also has timeslots and they're my breaks, I sometimes skip them.
Recently I have also came into painful realisation that I have indeed become so addicted to phone after using it I feel kind of lost, not knowing what to do next. This made me scared and knew I have to take a counter action. One thing that really helped me is that I have set a strict rules for myself that no matter how bored you are feeling, don't use social media app after you wake up or before going to bed. Even if it does get to the point where I m unable to resist it I replace it with other activities like cleaning, walking or reading.
I used to sleep with my phone under my pillow….i moved it away from me to my bedside table and felt so much anxiety for a few weeks but eventually got used to it and was able to move it even further away from me. I sleep so much better now!
I felt like a prisoner, falling captivated by your video and giving you my attention, getting ready to relax by taking a bath and despite the fact that I pay for RU-vid Premium, I ended up in the clutches of your sponsor's advertising. RU-vid should allow reporting this type of behavior from creators.
As the quality of messages in social media is declining, I feel less and less interested in staying there. Those rubbish alerts me to close the apps and get back to more productive things.🌟
Just now thought that I need to come out of my phone addiction and reduce screen time... Ur video was like u have read my mind .... Great !!! Ali ... May u achieve more in ur life... Bye
It's so wild that phone time can be that much per day...and can translate to years. I keep the screen time widget on my home screen so it visually reminds me how much time I've been spending on each app & reminds me to cut back when I need to.
I really recommended deleting the app for about 40 day and then set a timer for using it , for example set just one hour per day for spending on this apps
And this is you, your poor soul...😂😂Love you,Ali! You're amazing and been my inspiration to start my own youtube channel. A lot of fun experiences to come😜
I actually tried grayscale, but as a setting for my phone after late night hours. This is something I like because that way I can teach my eyes to try looking to a different colored and interesting thing to check at that time, lol
You are right - I am addicted to screen / scrolling. I want to deal with it with morning and evening routines. No phone before 10 am and asar prayer to isha prayer is book reading time.
Dude my daily screen time is like 7+hrs 😭😭😭 on weekends it gets up to 10-13 hours. I need to detox, remove all these apps and just start afresh with my mind. Read a book or sumn, but I'm just so easily distracted 😫
I have a few questions that I don't think was explicitly addressed in the video: 1. Does this just go for phones or screens such as laptops, tvs, tablets and other media consumption devices? 2. Is it even the device or is it what you're doing on your device? My assumption is that we should aim to restrict supernormal stimuli in general, but there are several challenges with this approach. Firstly, it isn't always clear what qualifies as supernormal, leading to the issue of unidentifiability, where we are simply unaware of the potential dangers. Secondly, avoiding these stimuli might be impractical unless one is exceptionally disciplined and strong-minded. For instance, I argue that RU-vid is as detrimental, if not more so, than typical social media. This is because the issues of unidentifiability and the need for extreme self-discipline are embedded within the platform. Like hyper-addictive social media, RU-vid's algorithm and content creators optimize for attention retention. However, it does not receive the same level of scrutiny as Instagram or Twitter because it is not explicitly categorized as a social media app. Additionally, speaking anecdotally, I use RU-vid to aid my studies, as there is a wealth of high-quality educational material on the platform. However, I find it challenging to avoid distractions from the homepage and sidebar suggestions. So my point is, I think lowering phone use and screen time is only a partial solution, and we should be aware of the other dangers media consumption as a whole.
The first thing you need to do is to separate work, research time from scroll time. As a 75 year old who spends 10 hours a day on my phone. My phone is my only connection to the internet. I have to use my phone to use Micrsoft, Adobe, Notion, etc. If i do not have my phone or run out of data, i have no access to my math research files. Time online does not always equal a phone addiction.
- All my notifications are off but certain contacts do have ringtones asigned, so I know when they do write but wont get anything from random groupchats. - Forest when working. I actually use my phone for work (dev) so I just block the fun stuff and help grow trees - I randomly switch the places of all my social media apps in ny screen (my phone doesnt have a menu) so I can't just go there by inertia and will actually have to think on where is the stuff I want. An app that would handle that randomizing would be really nice
Amazing video, Thank you Lord Jesus for the gift of life and blessings to me and my family $14,120.47 weekly profit Our lord Jesus have lifted up my Life!!!🙏❤️❤️
