Top 5 Ways to Limit Smartphone Distraction

And Why These Simple Changes Work

“Apple says that iPhone users unlock their phones 80 times a day. Even worse, research firm Dscout found that we tap, type and swipe our smartphones more than 2,600 times a day, on average.” — Jeff Stible, Author of Breakpoint and Wired for Thought

With the invention of the smartphone we have entered into a new era of distraction. We don’t leave home without our smartphones. And anxiety builds when we don’t have it with us.

Yet, when we need to get something done or actually need to use these marvelous devices something else happens.

We get distracted.

Our attention wanders out of whatever we needed to do and into a rabbit hole of Instagram, YouTube, and slideshow articles.

Or we get a notification that someone liked this, or your sister texted you, or an email telling you about deals at Hobby Lobby.

And then, we end up distracted and we have lost minutes which can turn into hours that we could have been doing something important.

The shame and annoyance of our distraction only makes the problem worse.

So, what do we do? How do we limit our distraction with the marvel of modern technology?

Start with Why You Get Distracted

Turns out the reason we are addicted to our smartphones is because of a proximity habit. And this addiction due to proximity is also encouraged by our phones through notifications.

Proximity Habit

Let’s think about this for a moment. Most of us keep our phones on our nightstand because they are now our clock/radio/alarm.

When we wake up, we take our phone everywhere we go. It travels with us in the car, the bathroom, meetings, lunches, and sits in the counter (if not in your pocket) at home.

Since we have it with us, we use it for everything. Not just phone calls. Task lists, calendars, email, games, TV shows, movies, writing…