As a blogger and social media influencer I spend a lot of time on my smart phone. I spend more time on my phone daily than the average person should. But I do it because it is my job. The same way a movie critic probably watches more movies than the average person should. Or a video game creator spends more times playing those games than is healthy for a non-professional.

But I also spend a lot of time thinking about my use of technology and how to make sure there is still balance. I talk with friends and family a lot about tools and techniques that can be used to limit the amount of time with a smartphone in hand, and to be more fully present in non-phone moments like meals and coffee dates. Perhaps because this is my profession and I’ve needed to set boundaries for myself, I feel like I also have a good grasp on ways that the average person can break a technology addiction and step-away from the phone.

In case you were wondering signs of overuse or addiction include things like - compulsively checking your phone multiple times throughout the day as well as right before bed and first thing when you wake up; feeling panic when you are without your phone; using it to alter your mood; etc…

10 ways to Break a Technology Addiction:

1:: Set Time Limits.

As with everything, moderation is key. There are so many amazing things that we can do and learn with our smart phones, but we also need to step away from time to time. Give yourself a time limit to scroll through Instagram or watch snaps. Set a timer or use the iPhone ScreenTime setting to limit your use. Just telling yourself you will stop after 20 minutes often isn’t enough you need the physical reminder of an alarm or notification to step away. Or, plan your usage around a drop-dead appointment such as a meeting in 30 minutes that you won’t be late to.

2:: Don’t sleep with your phone in reach.

There are so many reasons to not sleep close to your phone. It is tempting to reach for it as you are trying to fall asleep and just check one last thing or send one last message or watch/read something till you fall asleep. But the blue light will make for a more restless night because it prevents the body from creating the melatonin you need for a good night’s rest. Plus, out of sight out of mind. Putting your phone away from you while you sleep ensures that if you do get up to look at it in the night you are making the firm decision to get out of bed and look at it, not just the thoughtless arm motion of reaching for it.

3:: Move favorite apps off the home screen, better still put them in a folder collection.

Did you know that using social media releases dopamine - the happy chemical - similar to use of cocaine? It’s true. You can Google it. But scientists have found that it isn’t just the use of social media that is triggering the release of dopamine, just the act of seeing the icon can release that little chemical and make you crave more. Plus, often when we see the icon we are convinced that perhaps we missed something since the last time we checked. We have major FOMO and feel like we should check it just to make sure. Having the icon in a place that is harder to see makes you less inclined to check and less worried that you are missing out. I keep all my social media apps in folder called ‘social’ on the second page of my iPhone so that I never see them when I first open it up.

4:: Don’t Bring the Phone to Meals.

This should go without saying. But leave the phone somewhere else and enjoy the meal with the person you are sharing it with. Scientists say that even having the phone face-down on the table causes more distractions and less profound conversations between those present. As an influencer I’m often pulling my phone out at a restaurant to capture my meal, but I try to do it at the beginning and then put it away in my purse or pocket for the rest of the time so I can be truly present.

5:: Turn Off Push Notifications.

This is another one of those pesky dopamine triggers. You see a notification pop up on your phone and immediately you get a little dose of dopamine that has you craving more so you check out what the notification is telling you. And then you do it again and again and again. App builders know this is how it works, which is why almost all of them will ask you upon set-up to allow for push notifications. You are more likely to keep coming back and using the app if they are reminding you to do so. Turn those off. You decide when you will check your social media accounts and don’t rely on the app to tell you when you should be doing that.

Personally, I never give apps permission to send me push notifications. The only thing that will pop up on my screen now is text messages and certain calendar events that I cannot afford to miss. Everything else is off, and it give me so much more peace than when I was getting dozens of notifications each hour.

6:: Delete a favorite app for a few days or weeks. OR Do a tech-free day/weekend.

The best way to tell if you have an addiction to pretty much anything is to step away for awhile and see how you do. Are you constantly reaching for it? Do you feel sad because you deleted the app and feel bored or like you are missing out? If you answer yes to this during a tech cleanse that doesn’t necessarily mean the app is bad or that you should stop using it altogether. Maybe it jut means you need to be more intentional with your usage, or that you need to limit the time you spend on the app or on your phone.

Every year between Christmas and New Year I put my phone into airplane mode and spend that week completely tech free. I won’t lie, the first day or two it is difficult. I want to reach for it and check my texts or post to Instagram. I want to read my emails. But by day 3 I always feel so much lighter and more focused on the things that are important. By the end of the week I give myself one goal for the year ahead to live more balance.

7:: Track your usage.

Often I find people have no idea how much time they actually spend on their phones or on a specific app. We’ve all had it happen - I’ll just watch one more episode of some Netflix series and then three hours later you wonder where the time went. Tracking your usage can give you a much clearer and often scary insight into how much of your day you are actually spending with phone in hand. The iPhones now have a way to do that automatically, and it even breaks the various apps into different categories so you can compare time spent on social media to time spent on productivity apps or time spent reading.

I don’t think these numbers are worth obsessing over or checking daily, but I do think it’s a good exercise to look at your numbers once a month and see if anything is out of proportion with your goals and ambitions. If you are trying to start a business or study for your LSATs but you are spending 15 hours a week on social media - you probably need to realign somethings.

8:: Use Airplane mode and Do Not Disturb mode.

I am a huge fan of these two modes on my phone. I love that the iPhone now automatically puts me on Do Not Disturb when I use the Bedtime function on the Clock app and when I have a meal appointment on my calendar. These things help me to be truly present when I am out to dinner with a friend, and actually get the 8 hours of sleep a night that I need to be a functional human being.

I also use the airplane mode function when I am trying to do concentrated work, like writing this blog post, or when I am praying. Things that take a lot of brain power and concentration require as few distractions as possible. So switching my phone into airplane mode so that I can really work or meditate is super helpful.

9:: Scroll with purpose not from boredom.

As mentioned above, after this year’s tech cleansing week I walked away with this resolution. As an influencer I spend a lot of time on social media but it can be really easy to just scroll through, double tapping on occasion to like something, and then scrolling some more. But I am trying to be intentional with my time on social media. If I am getting on I am there to interact and to be a part of the community. I am not there to kill time or to fill some void. If I notice that I am just endlessly scrolling I get off and focus on another task until my head is ready to be fully engaged in the community.

10:: Don’t keep your phone on your desk as you work.

Millennials might be the multi-tasking gurus but it’s all a sham. No one is really good at multi-tasking because our brains aren’t wired that way. We might have trained our brains to jump back and forth more quickly between tasks than previous generations, but we still get the best work done when we can focus on one task. Each time we get distracted by our phone, our brain hops to that task and then needs to work at putting us back into the task at hand. Give it a try. Put your phone somewhere other than your desk and see how much you can get done focusing on work for 30 minutes. You’d be amazed at how much you can crank out in that time frame without distractions.

What do you do to make sure you are living a balanced life when it comes to technology? Do you have any tips and tricks to break a technology addiction?