Ep. 112 How to Stop Wasting Time on Your Phone
Ep. 112 How to Stop Wasting Time on Your Phone
When we asked our listeners what they struggled with most when it comes to time management, we heard again and again: “I wish I could stop wasting time on my phone!” We’ve both struggled with the exact same thing and in this episode, we’re diving deep into the mindset and strategy of how to solve this problem once and for all!
You’ll learn:
How to stop feeling guilty about the time you spend on your phone
Why tools alone aren’t ever going to solve the problem long term
The most important question to ask to solve the underlying issue behind why you can’t seem to stop getting distracted by your phone
Four specific strategies to help you feel more in control of how you use your phone
If you could solve the time management issues in your life, how much would your life change? How would it feel to be proud and satisfied with how much you get done each day instead of beating yourself up for not doing better? Keep listening to The Progress Project Podcast this month and we’ll help you get there!
Check out our Time Management Guide to have all the information you need to help you make time for projects outside motherhood. It’s time to stop holding yourself back from all the wonderful creativity you have to contribute to the world!
Listen below or on iTunes & choose Episode 112
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How to stop feeling guilty about the time you spend on your phone
We’ve all felt guilty about how much time we spend on our phones, but feeling guilty isn’t going to fix the problem or help us feel better.
What’s worked for us is a more gentle approach filled with positivity, kindness and realistic goals. We’ve found that combining some of the mindset + strategy tools that we talk about in our time management guide are what have helped us stop feeling guilty and helped us start getting the results we want!
In order for you to stop feeling guilty about the time you spend on your phone first you need to figure out what the problem is — what you want to change or fix. You need to ask yourself these questions below.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself to Help You Stop Wasting Time on Your Phone
WHAT’S the problem that you want to fix or change?
Do you use your phone for distraction, procrastination, escaping uncomfortable emotions, etc.?
WHY do you want to change or fix your current problem with your phone?
It’s important to find out why YOU want to change it.
Imagine what your life be life if you fixed this problem. What would it feel like? What would that look like? Maybe if you fixed this problem you would:
Use time to work on creative projects instead
Have more intentional time with others
Be able to resist little distractions
Stop putting off more important things
Do something that’s truly restful and refreshing
HOW are you going to do that? What are you going to replace it with?
This is where you can use the combination of some of our mindset + strategy tools to help you out! Keep reading below and pick out what might work best for you.
The most important question to ask!
In order to solve the underlying issue behind why you can’t seem to stop getting distracted by your phone you need to ask yourself “WHY?”
This is where the mindset tools come into place. Ask yourself WHY you’re wasting the time? WHY are you using it as a distraction?
Figure out the real reason behind WHY you are wasting time on your phone.
Do a quick journal entry to find out the answer.
Are you using it to escape a negative emotion?
Maybe you’re using it to procrastinate a task you need to do.
Is it just a bad habit you’ve taught your brain how to become really efficient at?
Once you find the reason, here are a few more things you could journal to help you even more.
What do you think can’t change? What can change?
What’s the alternative? What are you missing?
Once you’ve worked on your mindset, you can start to apply some of the strategies that might be helpful as well.
4 specific STRATEGIES to help you feel more in control of how you use your phone
1. Decide ahead of time
If you struggle with wasting time on your phone or being distracted by it you probably aren’t using this strategy. When you automatically open up Instagram or your email you’re probably just doing it because you felt an urge to do so. You’re reacting instead of responding.
That’s okay and totally human, but if you can decide ahead of time when and how you’re going to use your phone this can make all the difference! That way you’re not just grabbing your phone to resist a negative emotion or distract yourself from a current task.
It’s all about making the decision ahead of time and then following through on what you decided.
Remember: you just need to train your brain to help you accomplish this goal. Your brain takes note of your habits and tries to be as efficient as possible. You’re on the same team! You just need to teach your brain that you’re going to think about what you need to do on your phone and then do it, instead of just giving into any urge or distraction.
2. Use priority mode
Decide what’s most important to you and then do that FIRST! If you can trust yourself to do this, you will have time for the little, but sometimes urgent tasks that also need to get accomplished.
Working on your phone habit is a great way to teach your brain what’s most important and what’s non-essential or what can wait.
It takes practice, but we promise you can do it!
3. Batching
Batching is just doing similar tasks at one time or in a chunk of time. It’s a time management strategy that we love! You can batch laundry, work tasks, meal planning, etc. but you can also batch when using your phone.
Instead of checking your email whenever you feel like it or responding to texts or messages throughout the day, pick a time to go through all your email at once. (You can even do this a few times a day if you like checking your email like we do!) You can sit down to text a few friends or family members you’ve been thinking about.
4. Track your time
This one can be scary, but it makes the biggest difference!
Track how much time you spend on your phone for a day or week and where exactly you’re spending that time. It might actually be doing some really great stuff like reading your scriptures or reaching out to friends. Or you might notice that you’re spending a little more time on social media or other apps than you’d like.
Be really honest with yourself. No need to feel guilty, just use the data as motivation to inspire you to use your time in a way that serves you better!
A few extra tricks we love using to spend less time on our phones
Substitute your phone with something else to carry around or sit with, like a journal, cup of tea, to do list, etc.
Try putting your phone on “Do Not Disturb” or “Silent” most of the day.
Turn off almost any notifications that aren’t necessary for you.
Have a “home” for your phone where it can charge or just be when you’re not using it.
Links Mentioned
The book Deep Work by Cal Newport
Our brand new resource: Time Management Guide for Creative Moms - an 80+ page pdf that includes all our tips, tricks, strategies and mindset tools so you can start making more progress on your creative projects WHILE being a full-time, present mom.
Want more help with time management?
Do you regularly feel rushed, stressed, and pulled in a thousand directions? Do you constantly feel like your schedule is packed with your kids’ activities and commitments you can’t even remember agreeing to? Do you wish you had even a little bit of time to devote to the things that make you feel like your best self?
In our Time Management Guide for Creative Moms, you’ll learn more about how to find pockets of time for just you, how to make the most of those limited hours, and the secrets to staying on top of the other things that truly matter to you.
We created this 80+ page time management guide to help you not only learn to feel more under control with everything you’re already doing, but find time to start or work on those creative projects that light you up!
Apply these strategies that our in our guide and you’ll start getting WAY more done than you ever imagined possible. You’ll start making progress towards your goals. You’ll find more fulfillment and joy in motherhood -- AND the other projects that matter so much to you.
These are the exact strategies Kristin has used over the last 4 years of motherhood to get full-time work done in part-time hours and grow two businesses while doing freelance work on the side (WITHOUT feeling stressed, overworked, or losing sleep). Click HERE to learn more.
If you liked this episode, you’ll really LOVE these ones!
Ep. 101 How to Stop Feeling Rushed
Like the episode? We’d love to hear!
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