8 out of 10 people, according to Deloitte, have tried to regain control over their digital habits. That’s not surprising, given how hyperconnected our worlds have become - and people are feeling the effects of screen overload both physically and mentally.

The first line of defense often tends to be to try and minimize the addictive nature of smartphones and the various apps - demanding attention. Because this comes up so frequently, using the input from our clients at Scroll by Choice, we put together this quick matrix for the pros and cons of some common solutions.

To be clear, our preferred approach is that people learn how to thrive alongside technology - taking an active role in their digital wellness. Given that there is zero curriculum in schools addressing this and little awareness about this challenge in the workplaces - the hunt for a silver bullet will always be elusive. However, we also understand that everyone is at a different stage of how much they understand the downsides of excessive, unmanaged screentime far they’d want to commit to this process. And so, without further pontification - here’s an unvarnished pros & cons view.

3 COMMON WAYS TO TACKLE SCREENTIME

Turning off Notifications: From busy working professionals to teenagers and homemakers - the very first technique that almost everyone tries to avoid distractions — is to mute notifications on their phone.

Conceptually, this makes sense. If the cause of our obsession with devices was that it constantly beckoned to us - then taking away its ability to do so should set us free. For some people, it does. Atleast for a short period of time - where the lack of pings and buzzes allows them to refocus on what’s most important to them. And yet, after a period of time - especially when they stumble into some free time or face an uncomfortable emotion — users tend to get back into the scroll troll. It’s possible that notifications were never the reason why we look at our phone over 150 times a day. There’s some research from noted authors such as Nir Eyal suggesting that the root cause might be within us and not external distractions (we agree)

Grayscale: Our devices display the real and digital world in sharp, clear, bright tones. The same ideas that created the dazzling lights of Times Square or Las Vegas’ strip are evidently applied in our 4k phones where photos and videos are just marvelous to look at. In fact, you just can’t look away. So, can you blunt this?

One idea that’s commonly floated is to make the phones display black & white — or greyscaling. If Instagram or TikTok or even the home screen of your device isn’t pretty to look at - perhaps you’ll be more inclined to do something else. A walk in the park or spend time with your loved one instead? Again, because nothing is a one-size-fits all this technique does work for some. It can lower interest in phones. The question however is whether people redirect attention toward other valuable pursuits or whether that simply opens the door for other devices such as laptops or television. In work with our clients, it’s not uncommon to see individuals simply gravitate to another digital distraction. For some, this was also not sustainable given that they use their phones for work and found the black & white schema too limiting.

Dumb phones: This is a rising trend amongst those that are just overwhelmed by their devices clamoring for attention. It’s taking a leap back into the 1990s when devices were meant for calling and maybe awkward texting. A subcategory in this solution are things like ‘safe-phones’ which are marketed primarily to children. We live in an awful reality where phones are a lifeline for children safety - so concerned parents are treading the line between enabling their children to call them but do not want them falling prey to the gaping void of social media and cyber bullying. Dumb phones do have benefits such as aligning with a minimalist lifestyle and greater control over your attention. Their biggest drawback tends to be that they do not have network effects (yet). In other words, when all your friends or co-workers live on smartphones - it’s difficult to constantly explain why you haven’t read the most current email or have missed the Insta message or Reel. Often clients that rely on these devices tend to also keep a tablet or laptop to replicate what they might have been doing on the phones (partially defeating the purpose)

SUMMARY

This post could be longer - diving further into the pros and cons of these approaches. There’s a fair amount of nuance we haven’t covered here - and we acknowledge the complexity of the challenge. As is always the case, brevity and summarized views do require generalization and aggregation. We hope that you’ll read this content with that lens. We’re always happy to speak with those for whom this is a challenge and those who are ready to find long term solutions.

LEARN MORE OR ASK QUESTIONS!

We’d love to hear what you think about your experience with reclaiming control over your screentime. Email us at learnmore@scrollbychoice.com with your thoughts or if you are interested in learning more about how our digital wellness solutions can support you at work, home or at school.