We pick up our phones to check the weather, answer a text, or look up one perfectly reasonable thing. Then, 20 minutes later, we're watching a stranger reorganize her refrigerator.

If your phone seems to be swallowing more of your time than you’d like, you’re certainly not alone. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 53% of U.S. adults think they spend too much time on their smartphones.

Fortunately, cutting back doesn't mean we have to delete every app. A few small changes can make our phones a little less demanding and a little less interesting.

1. Turn Off the Notifications You Don't Need

Our phones are very good at finding reasons for us to look at them. Those constant notifications can make it harder to concentrate, even when we don't pick up the phone.

Research on cellphone notifications found that receiving them could disrupt our performance on an attention-demanding task, even when we don’t interact with our phones.

We don't have to silence everything. Calls, texts, calendar reminders, and other important alerts can stay. But, the alert about the new sale on throw pillows can probably wait.

2. Make Your Phone Boring

This one sounds almost too easy. Try switching your display to grayscale. One study found that people spent less time on their phones after switching their screens to grayscale.

Without all those bright app icons and colorful photos competing for our attention, scrolling can lose some of its sparkle.

The setting varies by phone, but it's generally available through accessibility or display settings. Android users can also find grayscale in their Digital Wellbeing options.

3. Make Your Favorite Apps Harder to Reach

If Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or another app keeps stealing hours of your life, take them off the home screen.

You don't have to delete anything. Just tuck the app into a folder or move it somewhere that requires a little more searching.

That extra effort will give you a moment to remember why you picked up your phone in the first place.

4. Let Your Phone Cut You Off

Both iPhones and Androids have built-in tools designed to help us manage how much time we spend staring at them.

We can set daily limits for certain apps, schedule periods when distracting apps aren't available, or use Focus and Do Not Disturb when we're working.

Android's Digital Wellbeing shows how much time people are spending on individual apps and how often they’re opening them. Sometimes, seeing the number is enough.

5. Put Some Physical Distance Between You

Sometimes, the easiest way to stop checking our phones is to stop putting them within arm's reach. One study found that simply having our phones nearby can make it harder to concentrate, even when we're not using them.

The bedroom may be another place to create some distance. Research has also linked smartphone use in bed with disrupted sleep.

Try charging your phone across the room or leaving it somewhere else during dinner, reading, or focused work. You may still want to check it, but you’ll have to get up first.

Our Phones Don't Have to Become Flip Phones

Cutting back on screen time doesn't mean deleting every app, abandoning the group chats, or tossing our smartphones into the drawer.

Sometimes, making a phone slightly less interesting is enough to interrupt the habit of picking it up without even thinking about it. And, if turning Instagram gray or moving it two screens away buys you a few more minutes in the real world, that’s a win. 

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