I Have An Addiction

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Hey,

I have a dopamine problem. I’d honestly venture to guess that you do, too. Hear me out…

  • Do you ever open your phone “just because” (or maybe certain apps) multiple times a day?
  • Do you immediately feel like you need to see when a new notification pops up?

I know I do click on my apps way too much. I have a thing about those little red dots, so I have all app notifications turned off, but still…

A few months ago, I decided that I wanted to start monitoring my social media habits, too. While I have created app limits on my phone (thank goodness this option exists!!) to help me, it’s the number of times I feel drawn to click that indicates the problem.

(If iPhone could track that amount of clicks, I would be so embarrassed.).

Spongebob GIF

To set it all up for myself, I went to screen time on my iPhone and set app limits.

> Settings > Screen Time > See All App & Website Activity >

Scroll down, and it will show your apps and the number of minutes you’ve used.

On the same screen, you will see “Limits,” and you can set your app limits.

Now, my phone tells me when I’ve used my allotted time daily, keeping me in check. (Except I still click “15 more minutes” at times.) 😬😬😬

My goal is to keep reducing it weekly.

Book cover of "dopamine nation".

I recently started reading that book 👆🏼 and the research is wild and incredibly eye-opening. It’s showing that we are becoming a more depressed and anxious society because of the time we spend on our devices.

According to the author of this book:

“We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting . . . The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.”

Reading this book and becoming aware of what’s happening to my brain should help me be more conscious. 🤞🏼 (Here’s to hoping, right?!)

Has anything like this been on your mind or on your radar lately? Do you feel good about the amount of time you spend on your phone? I’d love to hear about your experience with it!


 

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Always cheering you on!

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Kim Strobel | Speaker, Author, Educator, & Happiness Coach
Phone: 812-719-4998
www.StrobelEducation.com
www.KimStrobel.com
Featured in: USA Today

 

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