Ten easy ways to cure your smartphone addiction!

We all secretly know that we are missing out on real connections while seemingly being “connected”. Riding to work in subway cars filled with people on their phones is like being in a publicly supported room full of addicts, except that we have society’s permission to get our constant fix. And now all trains have wifi. Oh Yea!
Here’s my top ten list of how to unhook from your smartphone.
1. Do not sleep with the phone next to your bed. Plug it in elsewhere, the bathroom, the kitchen, you name it.
2. While at work, do not bring your phone to meetings. Begin by not bringing your phone to “just one” meeting. See what happens when you get back from the meeting, to which you bring a pen and paper. Did you look into people’s eyes, contribute more to the conversation? Did you remember more of what was said? Perhaps you had a bright idea you actually wrote down. Yea for you!
3. Do things every day or many times a week that do not allow phones. Take a bath instead of a shower. Soak and relax. Take an exercise class with a no phone policy. Thanks Physique57.
4. Beg, bribe or threaten your family (if it comes to that) to have a meal with no phones at the table. First person to break the rule pays the price of the meal or something else.
5. Read an actual physical book. I know, I work in book publishing but this is truly a way to lose yourself in paper pages that you can touch and in a story that will bring meaning to your life and focus to your brain,
6. Take a walk without your phone. Start by just strolling around the block. If you have a dog, even better. You will burn calories! You will not miss any cute Instagram opportunities that you cannot re-create later if need be.
7. Go to a cafe alone without your phone for a cup of coffee or tea. Talk to someone who looks friendly. You will have a nice conversation with another human. Talk to the barista, or waiter.
8. When using public transportation, do not take out your phone. The emails and texts and games and music and cat videos can wait. Seek out another person to talk to. If there is nobody, just observe the behaviors of everyone and their phones and see if you remember what life used to be life before there were phones. Imagine what the scene would look like if all the phones went away and everyone’s hands were in those strange positions,
9. Reward yourself for not using your phone. Be kind to yourself. Acknowledge your phone addiction and be happy with baby steps.
10. Have compassion for yourself. Practice saying kind things to yourself that soothe you during those anxious moments without your phone. You did not lose anything by not having it, and you just might win back something even greater in those moments without it. And think about how much lovelier your hand feels when your fingers are relaxed and able to give someone an actual bear hug.