Buzz. You open one eye. Is that a text from your mom? It’s probably a text from your mom. You close your eyes again, trying to return to transcendental bliss, but your phone buzzes again. And again. You snatch it up, planning to quickly respond and put it away, but you reflexively open Instagram and lose the next twenty-three minutes to aimless scrolling. Sound familiar? Then you’ll be interested to know that tons of smartphone apps can help you avoid time-wasting phone voids. The Addiction Center lists some potential side effects from too much smartphone use:
Sleep deficit Lower concentration Creativity blocks Anxiety Reduced cognition Stress Loneliness Insecurity Impaired relationships Poor grades
These symptoms can be bad news, especially for people who are already vulnerable, like teenagers or people who have or are prone to mental illness. That’s where time-restricting apps come in. These distinctions aren’t perfect—many time-restricting apps will borrow a little from the other types. But figuring out what structure would work best for you makes it easier to choose apps to try. They track your phone usage and sometimes even allow you to automatically lock yourself out of certain apps once you hit your limit. With Screen Time, you can set customized time limits for both individual apps and app categories. Once you’ve reached your limit, Screen Time will remind you—but also ask if you want one more minute, fifteen more minutes, or to ignore your limit completely. You can even password protect your time limit so that you can’t bypass it without a pin. If you spend too much time scrolling, the little guy won’t die. But the satisfaction you get from feeding it is pretty motivating. BeeMinder works with both Apple and Google devices. This one also works with both Apple and Google. Unfortunately, those apps usually cost money, so you’ll need to dig into your pockets if you want to use them.
