10 Ways to Break Your Digital Addiction (+ How to Detox)

A woman with a digital addiction who is using her phone in bed

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How many times per day do you check your phone? Do your digital devices control you rather than the other way around?

In our technology-driven world, digital addiction can creep up on you without you even realizing it. Thankfully, it’s not impossible to escape an addiction to technology.

Here are 10 practical ways to change your autopilot response to these stimuli intended to hijack your attention.

Tips for Breaking the Cycle

Digital tools promise to make our lives easier but often end up controlling us instead. The average person checked their phone 144 times a day in 2023. Addictive app features, endless scrolling, constant notifications, and demands from work, family and friends to immediately respond to texts and emails hijack our attention and sap our productivity.

These 10 practical tips can help you regain control of your relationship with technology so you don’t get dragged down the digital addiction drain:

Break reward loops. Disable apps with features designed to keep you hooked, including social media “like” counts and games with daily login bonuses. Turn off red notification dots that make you feel you’re missing something important.

Build your emotional toolkit. Identify your emotional state before reaching for your phone to use it as a mood regulator (for instance, to “numb out”). Practice choosing a different response for different emotions: Take a walk to ease anxiety, journal to vent frustration, craft to alleviate boredom.

Contain your curiosity spirals. Keep a list of things you want to look up later to avoid disappearing down digital rabbit holes that interfere with completing necessary tasks. Schedule weekly “curiosity time” to explore these interests.

Create content consumption endpoints. Establish content viewing time limits to avoid mindless social media scrolling—like “three articles” or “until this coffee is finished.”

Use grayscale mode strategically. Set displays to black and white during specific hours to reduce the dopamine hit from colorful notifications and apps, and resist devices’ psychological pull.

Create physical distance barriers. Store your phone in a different room from where you sleep and work to reduce constant device-checking. Consider locking it in a container with a timed release to eliminate the temptation to “just check quickly.”

Implement “micro-friction.” Disable face and fingerprint recognition, remove auto-fill account passwords, and log out of apps after each use to add small but significant obstacles to mindless phone use. Rearrange apps weekly to prevent muscle memory from taking over.

Replace digital transitions with physical rituals. Create specific non-digital activities to do between tasks instead of defaulting to your phone: do five stretches, squeeze a stress ball, or create a “landing pad” routine when you arrive home (before checking your device, take three deep breaths or make a cup of tea).

Create professional response tiers. Create different notification settings for varied professional contacts to stay responsive without being tethered to your devices all day. Set immediate alerts for your boss and key stakeholders, batch notifications for colleagues, and muted notifications for general work communications.

Set personal communication windows. Designate specific times you’ll check and respond to texts, calls, and emails from family members and friends who expect you to be constantly available—for instance, between 6 and 7 p.m. on weekdays, and weekend mornings. Share this information and emphasize how it will help you be more present and responsive during your dedicated windows.

Alternative Detox Methods

In his book Irresistable, Adam Alter suggests four technology addiction solutions for those who are already addicted:

Rehabilitation: Rehab centers are beginning to offer services that specifically target technology addiction by removing addicts from triggering environments and providing them with tailored training and support. Alter says these programs are promising—early results indicate that many enrollees learn to manage their relationships with technology in a healthier way.

Harm reduction: According to Alter, harm reduction involves taking steps to minimize the negative effects of your technology use. For example, you might sign out of your work email on your phone so that you’re not tempted to check it when you’re at home or turn off social media notifications so that social media doesn’t distract you at work.

Habit replacement: Alter explains that it’s difficult to suppress your technology-centered thoughts and tendencies unless you contrive a new focus altogether. The best replacement is one that meets the same needs your addiction does (like recreation) but in a healthier way. For example, you might trade late-night scrolling for reading.

Behavioral design: Behavioral design is the act of purposefully creating an environment that influences people’s behavior in desired ways. Alter emphasizes several such approaches: One option is to separate yourself from technology (for example, by leaving your phone at home when you go for a walk). Another is to use rewards and punishments to moderate your behavior (for example, by setting limits on your technology use and paying yourself to achieve them.)

How to Start

Not sure where to start? Start with just one small change this week—whether it’s turning on grayscale mode during evening hours or creating a simple emotional toolkit list. Or come up with your own custom variation. Remember, the goal isn’t to eliminate digital tools from your life, but to be aware and regain control over how and when you use them.

10 Ways to Break Your Digital Addiction (+ How to Detox)