I am a big procrastinator. A situation I have found myself in one-too-many times is when I really have to focus, so I work for a while, then decide to take a break and hop on social media. The next thing I know, it’s nighttime, and I had scrolled on Instagram for the majority of my day.
The average screen time in the United States has slowly risen over the past 10 years and currently sits at around seven hours a day. I am not proud to admit it, but my average screen time isn’t far off. At the beginning of August, I was averaging around 5.5 hours a day.
To avoid wasting a whole day on my phone this semester, I have tried these methods for decreasing screen time:
This method is exactly what it sounds like. You pretend your cellphone is a landline phone and use it in one designated spot. The idea is that you can use your phone normally, not just for calling, but staying in one spot will deter you from scrolling for hours.
When I tried this method, I kept my phone plugged in at my kitchen counter and used the charger as the “cord” keeping it there. I chose a spot that wasn’t comfortable so I couldn’t sit down and scroll for long.
This method requires a lot of willpower. What was stopping me from just unplugging my phone and getting comfortable on my phone for hours? I will admit, it happened a few times. However, I became more conscious of it and tried to stop myself.
The biggest benefit was my bedroom became a cellphone-free area, I wasn’t waking up and immediately reaching for my phone because I had to leave my bedroom to use it. The drawback was that once you leave the house, there’s no way for you to pretend your phone is a landline besides leaving it behind, which is impractical for most.
I think this method would become easier over time as you likely will start to break the habit of constantly checking your phone. My screen time was around three hours when I tried this method.
You may have heard of a Brick, which is a popular new device that helps block distracting apps by making you get up and scan the device to access your phone. The device is $59, which is expensive if you don’t know that it will work for you yet. So, the next best thing is a DIY Brick.
This method unfortunately only works for iPhone because it involves the free app Foqos, but there are other screen-time apps like Opal. On the app, you first set up a profile where you pick what apps you want to block and what you will have to scan to unblock them. You can use the barcode off of anything, so I cut the barcode off of a cereal box. I decided to tape my code onto one of my fridge magnets, so I had to get up to unblock my distracting apps.
This method worked better when leaving the house because you could leave important apps like Messages unblocked in case of an emergency, while distracting apps like Instagram stayed blocked.
The main issue I had with this method was that once I had gotten up and scanned the barcode to unblock my apps, I could still get comfortable and scroll for a while, unlike the landline method. Because of this my screen time was closer to four hours using this method.
This method is less of a standalone method than the other ones were and worked best combined with the other options. The goal is to replace everything you use on your phone that often pipelines into scrolling.
One reason I end up scrolling for hours is out of boredom, and a good fix for that is picking up some hobbies. To replace phone usage you can create an analog bag, a trend on social media that started in August 2025 in which you fill a bag with small activities like reading, knitting or puzzles that you can easily do when you are out.
Another example is an alarm clock, which you can usually find cheap at Goodwill. When I used my phone alarm, I would turn off my alarm and immediately turn my phone on. This often led me to scroll for hours before I got out of bed.
Ultimately, breaking your bad screen habits can be harder than expected. These are just a few methods to help lower your screen time. The one that worked best for me was the landline method, but all of these are worth a try and can be used simultaneously.
