How I’m Reducing Screen Time

Limiting screen time on my mobile phone continues to be a struggle for me.

Talking about limiting my phone usage is nothing new. I wrote a post about how it’s an issue – more than a year and a half ago. 😩

The reason I want to limit my screen time is because I believe it’s negatively impacting my mental health.

To combat this, I’m re-defining the relationship with my phone. I want to view it strictly as a productivity and communication tool, rather than an entertainment source.

My reasoning is that this will encourage me to find other sources of offline entertainment (such as reading, trying a new recipe, or hey – maybe even playing with my son) instead of streaming videos or falling into an Instastory loop.

Actions I’m Taking

I’m looking to distribute my mobile screen time to other screens. For example, if I want to research something, I have to use my laptop. If I want to watch something, I’ll do it on my TV through Apple TV instead.

You could argue that I am not really reducing screen time as I am still looking at bigger, glowing boxes, but BABY STEPS, OKAY?! First and foremost, the main goal is tackling my mobile screen addiction.

One way I am promoting efficiency on my mobile device is reducing app clutter on my iPhone. After taking time to re-arrange my apps, here’s what my home screen looks like now:

The Logic Behind My iPhone Home Screen

Using a black background: This not only makes my home screen feel less cluttered, but I read somewhere that it can help your battery last longer (versus a white or brightly colored background).

Reserving the bottom row for frequently used apps: In line with using my phone for actual communications purposes, I put my email, phone/contacts, and Whatsapp for easy access. I also included Google Chrome in case I need to look something up on the fly.

Using the top half of the screen for other important apps: The apps I put on the first three rows are either productivity-related or something I need quick access to. However, there are a few exceptions:

• YouTube: I have a child. Whenever we are out in public and he suddenly gets bored, YouTube minimizes the chances of him making a scene. Quick access is a must for me!
  
  
• Yelp: I worked 2 years at Yelp and it remains one of my career babies. This one stays.
  
  
• Delectable: This is a wine app that helps me remember what I’ve drank. While it doesn’t exactly fit the above requirements, it didn’t seem to fit under the app categories I’ve created (more on that soon). It’s not a time suck for me, so I believe it’s okay to keep here.
  
  
• LinkedIn: You could argue that this is a social network that can be distracting. However, I’m in between jobs at the moment so having the app is helpful in browsing jobs or responding to recruiters quickly. (On that note, feel free to InMail me with opportunities!)

Folders for everything else: In order to keep everything on one screen, I categorized the remainder and created folders to group them together.

I also took it a step further by using emojis to name these folders, because why not?

If you’re really curious, here’s what it all means:

• 💁🏻‍♀️: For those unfamiliar, this emoji is called “Information Desk Person”/”Person Tipping Hand”. Colloquially, it can be the equivalent of saying “FYI”. These apps include utilities like the calculator or Apple’s Health app. I also stuck Amazon in here as I sometimes use it for research (but I don’t want to rely on it too much).
• 💻: All my Google apps, such as Docs, Translate, and Authenticator.
• 💰: Banking and money transfer apps
• 🔐: Security-related apps
• 📸: Photo and visual apps. I stuck Instagram in here so it’s harder for me to find.
• 📝: Messaging apps
• 🗣: Other social networking apps. If you recall, I removed the Facebook app from my phone. I access it through my mobile browser so it’s not as efficient and it helps limit my time there.
• ✈️: Travel apps
• ⏯: Music and podcast apps
• 🎮: Games
• 🇭🇰/🇸🇬: Hong Kong / Singapore apps
• 🍎: Useless Apple apps that I can’t delete or for some reason, can’t bring myself to delete

Optimizing My Today View / Widgets Screen

Note: Certain areas are blurred for privacy purposes.

• Screen time: This is an obvious one. While it’s not the best tracking app and there’s no functionality to export the data, it’s a good starting point to keep myself accountable.
  
  
• Weather: I’m one of those who prefers to get my weather from my phone instead of looking out a window or going outside for an answer!
  
  
• Calendar: I live and die by my calendar. If an event is not on here, I’m not going to be there.
  
  
• Whatsapp: I keep in touch with family members here, so it stays.

Measuring My Progress

Now that this blog post is on the internet for all to see, I look forward to seeing if this has any effects on my habit.

To measure my progress, I want to take the data from Apple’s Screen Time app and see if my usage changed over the quarter. I foresee this to be a manual process as there is no way to export the data.

Still, truly think it’s worth the effort if I’m serious about reducing screen time – and I really am, for the sake of my mental health.