Create a habit around your phone

Skinner recommends coming up with a grounding habit associated with reaching for your phone. Every time you want to grab your phone, take three deep breaths and a few slow shoulder rolls. “When do you eventually take the phone (if you still feel the need), you can retain a sense of autonomy and intentionality in choosing to check,” she explains.

Choose a screen saver that aligns with your goals

“One of the most popular tips in my book is around creating an ‘inspiring screensaver’ – a visual reminder of what you really want to be doing with the time you’re frittering away on your phone,” says Burke. “For me, it’s a picture of my rescue greyhound. If I’m tempted to go on and have a scroll, [that picture] makes me pause in my tracks, take a moment and realise that I’ll get more of the ‘warm and fuzzies’ by giving him a stroke then checking on how many new followers I have (usually 0).”

She explains that visual cues are extremely powerful, especially when we’re exposed to them over and over again. “Imagine how much an advertiser would pay to have their products or services promoted on our home screen to us with such regularity. The average smartphone user now checks their device every 12 minutes of the waking day. Use that to your advantage!”

Unsubscribe from the group chats that don’t serve you

We’re all in group chats that contain people we actively dislike or discuss topics that are totally irrelevant to our lives. Perhaps you archive or mute them – allowing them to still be active in the background – or maybe you just leave them to chat to themselves while you allow your notifications to build up. Burke recommends simply getting out of groups you don’t want to be in. “Group chats are notorious time and battery guzzlers that typically hook us into things we don’t want to do and conversations we’re not interested in.”

“I check my phone over 150 times a day – why can’t I just leave it alone?” Psychotherapists explain how to reduce screen and pick up times, and how to crack the habit for good