˄

3.13.19

This clever campaign by W+K Portland for Nike is from 2017, but still haunts the sh*t out of us when we think about how we spend our precious time. The issues surrounding social media addiction certainly haven’t improved much since ’17 and the message of this little spot seems more relevant than ever.

Tech addiction may be so ingrained in our daily lives we might not even notice it’s time for a change. Below, we’re sharing a few of our favorite tips for spending less time with our screens and more time just living…

5 Smart Ways To Deal with Technology Overload

Set up Brick Mode. Could this be the cure for your bad phone habits? Brick Mode is a simple phone hack that makes it easier to put down your phone and enjoy the real world. Specifically, Brick Mode is an iMessage auto-reply for the iPhone that you can turn on just before you start phone-free time. The new grassroots company that birthed this genius concept also hosts phone-free retreats and events throughout LA.

SET A SOCIAL MEDIA SCHEDULE. We love this list of tips for breaking a social media addiction, especially this simple but genius one: set a schedule. Check your apps on a schedule, not on a whim. Let everyone know you’re doing it, so they don’t get pissed off when you take too long to engage one of their posts.

Phone-Free Friend Dates. Challenge your friends to break free of bad phone habits with you. Plan a phone-free happy hour or dinner with these tips. The first person to check their phone picks up the tip!

SAY NO TO NOTIFICATIONS. Give yourself a break — but actually. Chances are the idea of missing a crucial message might sound like undue punishment, but let’s be real; you’ll probably be fine, and actually feel better without a constant barrage of notifications. Turn off all your alerts. You don’t need to know every time someone posts something to your feed. It can wait.

Ask More Questions. We’re all about this idea for phone-free friend dates from the book A Tribe Called Bliss:

Get a group of friends together small or large, have them all write down a thought-provoking question or just something they would really like to know from the group, fold it up with or without names on them and throw them in a bowl. You can have each persona draw a question from the bowl and go around and answer it one at time, or for a longer date, have each person go around and answer the same question and repeat until everyone has had their questions answered. You can totally do this at a restaurant as well and just have people think of a question to ask the person to your right and go around until everyone has had turn asking and answering.

How do you manage your social media behaviors? Let us know in the comments or take it to The Chat!

Bottom banner image
From our friends