This Stupidly Simple Trick Helped Me Reduce My Screen Time by a Third

This put me in screen time. The mine stands on average for two and a half hours a day, but I noticed that when it’s lower I get better and happier. Turning off my notifications feels so intense – sometimes I like to look at them carefully and note down the people I need to reply – the “brutally effective” trick of using grayscale mode (which makes everything on your screen turn black and white) is frustrating. I tried putting my phone down or rejecting it, but then I wondered if I would miss something important. Prompt to retrieve it again.

But now, I find something that (silly simple) works for me: when I’m not using my phone, the screen brightness is lowered. This sounds stupid, but the notifications are no longer illuminated through my screen. When they do this, I find myself turning to them unknowingly every time, but now, I just can’t see them. Then, when I really take a break, I can pick up the phone, lift the brightness a little, and drag the thing I need.

Doing so, have I ever accidentally missed the phone? Sure, but I’m a millennial who rarely talks to anyone on the phone anyway. Basically, all missed calls are phone calls or spam from energy companies. Sometimes do I miss the news? Of course, but then I saw it an hour later. Often, these things are not the end of the world. I also have to acknowledge a certain degree of privilege here – for example, I don’t have my children or parents who are caring for whom I might need to contact me for an emergency, or I often call calls that I can’t actually miss. These things may happen in the future, but for now, I can actually put my phone down. If you happen to be in a certain location, it’s worth trying.

Now, my screen time averages about an hour and a half a day, and this level currently feels right. I also have more intentions to look at my phone than out of curiosity. Sometimes this trick leads to pretty interesting encounters: Recently, Emily, colleagues who unconsciously prompted this lifestyle change, saw me staring at the blank phone screen and asked if I was okay. (I sometimes forget that if I look at something quickly, I forget the brightness.) However, I still appreciate the continuous tilt from my laptop to my phone screen, not only seeing some randomly forwarded messages or meaningless updates, but mostly things from the past. And my thoughts are quieter.