4 minute read
Smartphone screen time
How to stop being a slave to your smartphone
Smartphones have revolutionised our lives, but are they also taking them over? If you want more ‘me’ time than screen time, Jahazi has some tips on streamlining your smartphone use.
Restrict your news feed
There are lots of reasons to use Facebook such as article sharing, friend tagging and keeping up with your clubs, but the news feed rarely has anything positive to offer beyond whatever Facebook’s algorithm thinks will keep you clicking. To take back control, whenever you see a post from someone that annoys you, click or tap the three little dots in the top right corner of the post and select Unfollow to stop seeing their posts in your News Feed. You’ll keep them as friends, and they won’t get any kind of notification that you’re not following them. Their stuff just stops showing up in your feed.
Mute words from your timeline
If there are certain subjects you know are going to trigger some upset or will plunge you deep in a scroll hole, then you can mute them. It could be mentions of a particular TV show (you might be trying to avoid spoilers) or celebrities that annoy you. From the Twitter menu on desktop or mobile, choose Settings and privacy, followed by Privacy and safety, then Mute and block, and Muted words. You can add new words and phrases via the Add button.
Turn off notifications
Whenever we get a notification on our phones through Instagram Direct we are tempted to open the app to see who ‘likes’ our latest photo or that meme a friend sent. So, turn off those notifications and then check them all at once when you mindfully decide to open the app. Tap Settings in the top left of your screen. Tap Notifications. Tap Push Notifications. Tap next to Off below the type of notification you want to remove (such as Reminders, Comments, Likes).
YouTube
Install the extension
Watching videos on YouTube can be entertaining but watching one video can quickly turn into watching fifty if you’re not careful. YouTube makes falling down this video rabbit hole all too easy with its ‘suggested videos’ sidebar. To seal the hole, restrict your viewing to on your desktop and install the extension YouTube Rabbit Hole, which hides some of YouTube’s most attention-grabbing, time-wasting components. The extension offers the ability to hide the homepage, sidebar, comments, and the trending/subscription pages. You can toggle each option on and off at will by clicking the extension icon.
Pick a time of day
Several studies have shown that checking email frequently leads to higher levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress. Best then to set aside set times in the day to devote to reading and sending of emails. Pick three periods during the day – aside from the highest-energy periods – when you can set aside 30-60 minutes of your time to focus on emails. Batch your responses to emails during these time periods only. This should help you take control of your time, alleviate stress and set proper expectations of your email usage.
Disable your read receipts
Getting your kicks from blue ticks can mean many anxious returns to WhatsApp to see if your message has been read by its recipient. It can also be stress inducing to read a message and then feel you have to respond immediately. Remove these stressors then by going to Settings, then Account, selecting Privacy and toggling read receipts to off.
TikTok
Set a time limit
How can videos which are so short take up so much of your time? TikTok is the Bermuda Triangle of social media, and many have got lost. The app is aware of how addictive it is and has time-limit options embedded. Go to Settings, Digital Well-being and the Screen Time Management to select a time limit of 40, 60, 90 or 120 minutes a day. Once your time is up, your screen locks until you enter a passcode or come back the next day.
Unfollow anyone irritating
When you follow someone on LinkedIn, new content posted or shared by the person will be displayed in your feed. These posts are often a cavalcade of annoying feeds from self-proclaimed ‘disruptive thinkers’, ghosting headhunters and sales pests. If they are getting to you, consider unfollowing them. Unlike removing or unfriending them, the person in question will be unaware of the move.
