Did you know that the average American spends almost 3 hours on their smart phone each day? By constantly checking social media, making phone calls, or sending texts, cell phones have the ability to become quite addicting.  This can lead to many problems such as headaches, decreased attention, depression, sleep disorders, and more. So the question is - how do we spend less time on our phones?

First, it's important to realize that we can't go from spending three hours a day on our phones to five minutes.  It's a slow process to decrease screen time, so here's what we suggest doing.

1. Figure out how much time you spend on your phone. By doing this, we'll know where we're starting from and how to move forward from there. 
2. Figure out what you'd like to do with the time you aren't spending on your phone. Whether that's reading a book, going for a walk, or visiting with friends, having a go-to activity to keep us away from our phones will be very helpful.
3. Set time limits on different apps on your phone. Love Instagram? Always clicking into Facebook? Limit yourself to only looking at the app 30 minutes each day.
4. Create some distance. Leave your phone in a different room while you're working or reading. Leave your phone at home when you get coffee with a friend or go for a walk. Leave your phone in the car or tucked away in a bag when meeting friends for dinner. Creating physical distance will keep you from reaching for the phone out of habit.
5. Delete social media apps. We all love constantly checking our various social media apps, but do we really need to look at them 12 times each day? Delete the apps off of your phone for a few days each week to give yourself a break. It'll make you feel better mentally, and it will provide you with extra free time you never knew you needed.

Like we said, decreasing your phone usage isn't easy, but in the long run, it's better for your health. Try out our five step process and let us know how you feel after!