4 Foolproof Ways To Reduce Your Screen Time

Written by David Ancor
2023-03-26T20:02:00Z

4 Foolproof Ways To Reduce Your Screen Time | BeTimeful

You’ve been stuck at home with all this extra time. Your phone is your best friend. Fair enough.

But, things are slowly going back to normal. Whether it’s online or real-life, your daily routine is climbing its way back to relevance but one problem: you acquired some bad habits. Your daily phone usage went from 2–3 to 6–8 hrs.

No? Just me? It increased — probably significantly, that's my point.

Here are three ways I’ve been decreasing my times and increasing productivity:

1. Add The Screen Time Widget To Your Home Screen

I cannot tell you in words how helpful this is. I don’t know if android users already had/have this but with iOS 14 came the widgets. One of them was the screentime widget:

Screenshot by the Author

This widget serves as a constant reminder of how much you’re using your phone and how much time is being spent behind apps. It really opens your eyes and shows that those minutes really stack up — something you’d never be able to conceptualize without this tool.

I mean, think about the first time you heard that most of us spend an average of 3–4 hours on our phone. Weren’t you shocked? I was — those recurring 2-minute checks amassed hours of my day and I couldn’t believe it.

After adding this widget, I deleted TikTok. It was taking up more than 2–3 hours alone, daily. I already started feeling happier and more productive just a few days after that.

2. Turn Off Badges and Lockscreen Notifications

Okay, so this one applies to your entertainment apps, not work-related apps. This has significantly reduced the number of times I picked up my phone, and thus, reduced my screen time and allowed me to focus on my work.

Screenshot by the Author

Scroll back up and look at the first screenshot, then come back to this one. Which one looks less distracting and isn’t yelling “COME CHECK ME AND GET THIS ANNOYING ASS RED CIRCLE OFF OF ME”?

The “7” you see is for my Gmail. That’s work-related so it’s important for me to be in-the-know for new emails. Everything else, I have to check the notification center or open the app, because the information isn’t mandatory and mostly for entertainment.

App badges (the red circle with a number in it on the top right of each app icon) was designed so you use the app more. Subconsciously, we’re tempted to get rid of that pesky red circle. The more you stay on their app, the more money they make. Turn it off, and you won’t open the app as much.

The lock screen notifications light up your screen, and you turn your head from what you’re working on to check it. Then, if you have the setting configured, you’ll have to unlock the phone to see it. At that point, it’s already in your hand so you open it, from there something else grabs your attention, and so begins the snowball of distraction.

With no app badges and lock screen notifications from Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, or what have you, you become less prone to distractions.

3. Have One Preferred Method of Communication

I used to rely on Instagram to text most people. Bad idea. Because after that reply, no one closes the app. Instead, we swipe right and access our news feed. Next thing you know, 15 minutes gone for one session alone.

I’ve never been a texter, to be honest. I’ve always preferred real-life or calls. But, I respond fastest on iMessage or Snapchat (I don't watch the stories anyway, also, it’s private). All my friends know those are my preferred methods of communication. Why? Less distraction.

If you have 4 different apps on which you communicate, well, that’s 4 different pathways of distraction. Keep it simple, silly.

4. Use a Free Browser Extension

Let's face it, how many times have we gone to YouTube for something specific only to end up watching a video on beluga whales doing somersaults? How many times have we gone to Instagram just to message a friend to find ourselves scrolling 20 minutes deep into the news feed abyss?

Too many times.

Betimeful’s free extension solves just that––it doesn’t work on the phone yet but it’s on the way. It’s great because instead of blocking the entire website, it integrates with your calendar and removes the website’s distracting elements once you’re in work mode.

That way, you can watch that math tutorial and save the beluga circus tricks for later when you have time. As the name suggests, it encourages you to be timeful.

demo

Bonus: What I Explicitly Said Wouldn’t Work:

Set a screen time limit. I said they don’t work because once your time is up, you’re still not satisfied. You need to see more memes. So, you put in the passcode, that you conveniently know, and bam. Screen limits: useless.

This is why they don’t work for most people. What you really need to do is let a friend or family member who is easily accessible put the limit for you, and create the passcode. Also, make them “cross my heart and hope to die” that they’ll never tell you the pass, even when you hold them at gunpoint.

Then, hold them at gunpoint and test their will.

Reducing your screen time for entertainment will undoubtedly increase your productivity, and though I can’t exactly explain it, it makes you happier. Maybe part of it comes from the feeling that you’re getting shit done. Just trust me on this.

The cost of trying Betimfeul: Zero money. 60 seconds of your time to set up.

The cost of not trying Betimfeul: 1-2 hours of lost time per day.