The TWO moves (that you won’t guess) that cut my screen time in HALF in a WEEK!

I don’t know about you, but I increasingly feel that my nervous system is not wired to handle updates on what the worst people in the world are doing every 15 minutes. Even for someone as naturally positive and optimistic as me, it’s hard going at the moment. The worse the news gets, the more doomscrolling we all get sucked into.

I decided I needed to do something semi-radical that would reduce the pull my phone had on me. I can feel it affecting my mood, my time, my attention span. You can probably relate? There are all sorts of generic (you have heard them before, lines of advice on this… sleep with your phone in a different room (but…you just don’t, it’s your alarm clock), set time limits on certain apps (doesn’t work, it’s too easy to just override them) etc. I wanted to try something far more intentional and likely to be genuinely effective, and it has easily cut my screentime by more than half. 

Here are my two quick hacks that you haven’t tried:

Firstly, I turned my phone to “GREYSCALE”. It’s in the settings (the instructions in the PS. below for you if you want to try it!) section of your phone. Whoa… a few clicks and boom, whole phone is various shades of grey. Everything is the same… but… it’s just not that interesting anymore. You can get the information if you need it, on whatever app or whatever, but it’s SO energetically muted. It doesn’t capture attention in the same way. It’s SO EASY to put your phone down, it will genuinely shock you.

Now look, if I need maps or photos, I turn the colour back on, obviously. But after checking in with the awesome magic, community and learning in The Wellbeing Warriors Coaching Academy in the morning, doing my 2-minute personal growth challenge of the day, reply to members comments and so on, I TURN MY PHONE TO GREYSCALE FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.

It’s SO weird guys, you simply must try it! It massively reduces how attractive and addictive it is to be on your phone and cuts your scrolling time EFFORTLESSLY.

Why does this work so well? This is all to do with the effect of colour in terms of sensory input:

• Bright colours increase sensory stimulation, which naturally holds our attention for longer. Apps are designed with high contrast and vivid colours to maximise this effect and keep us scrolling.
• When the screen is greyscale, that stimulation drops significantly. Lower stimulation means the brain finds the experience less engaging and less rewarding so we will tend to check less often and disengage wayyyyy more quickly.

So, that’s been HUGE. Second BIG move I have made to get me off my phone is to INVEST IN A KINDLE! Now, I will confess I have long resisted this move, I am a Book-Book kind of person through and through. I read A LOT of books, especially personal development books, and I like to read them with a pen in hand scribbling notes! So, I’ve always been a bit suspicious of a Kindle in terms of the reading experience as it were.

Anyway, I asked the question in the community in my Academy… do the ladies have Kindles, do they love them? So much great information shared that I decided to give it a go! I got the very basic model and decided I would use it just for fiction (then I don’t need a pen for notes!). I downloaded a fiction book from an author I like (Lisa Jewell if you’re asking!) for 99p and fired it up! Well, it felt a bit weird to start I will be honest, but I have had it a week now and I have decided I LOVE IT! It’s so easy, I even slipped it in the back pocket of my jeans this morning on my usual morning walk and sat and had a coffee and a cheeky read on the beach!!! It’s so light and easy and convenient, AND IT’S GETTING ME OFF MY PHONE – again – this is the key thing – without effort.

Why does the Kindle work? Three main reasons:

1. It has no colour (same as the greyscale) or animation, so it creates a much lower stimulation environment than a phone screen.
2. It reduces the cognitive load on our brain because it is LIMITED in terms of its content. My attention can only be on that one thing, the book, not on 23 different things a minute in a newsfeed.
3. Most important one I think is that it’s an “ambush-free environment” I can’t suddenly be ambushed by what horrifying things the worst people in the world are doing this very afternoon, or how the planet, children or animals are suffering. This is emotionally far better for my nervous system, and probably yours also. Being continually ambushed by suffering we cannot alleviate is emotionally utterly exhausting and we are not built for it.

So, those are my two power moves! I love my phone and all the incredible things I can do with it (control my central heating! Navigate with google maps! Order my groceries! Communicate with my amazing Academy members and VIP clients! Facetime my loved ones! Pay my bills! Do Wordle!) but I DON’T love the way it sucks time and attention from my life, and how my emotions can get hijacked. Like I said at the beginning, I don’t believe my nervous system is wired to be able to handle updates on what the worst people in the world are doing every 15 minutes.

These two simple changes have given me a lot of peace so I thought I would share as inspiration if you wanted to reduce your scrolling time too.

So are going to try either of these peaceful power moves or if there is something else you do to keep your own screen time in check, and – if you want to do the ultimate thing for your wellbeing check out my Coaching Academy and come join us.

Have a great day.

P.S, Here are your helpful bits of settings info for setting up Greyscale! Of course, you can also google your make and model of phone: 

On an iPhone, it is: 

Turn on Greyscale (iPhone)

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Display & Text Size
4. Tap Colour Filters
5. Toggle Colour Filters ON
6. Select Greyscale

Make it quick to switch on/off (worth doing)

So, you’re not digging through menus:

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Scroll to Accessibility Shortcut (right at the bottom)
4. Tick Colour Filters

Now you can triple-click the side button to toggle greyscale on/off instantly.

On a Samsung it is:

Turn on Greyscale (Samsung)

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Visibility enhancements (sometimes called “Vision enhancements” depending on model)
4. Tap Colour adjustment
5. Toggle it ON
6. Select Greyscale

Quick toggle (worth setting up)

1. Go to Settings
2. Tap Accessibility
3. Tap Advanced settings
4. Tap Accessibility button or Side key shortcut
5. Assign Colour adjustment

Now you can switch greyscale on/off quickly without digging through menus.