Let’s be honest – your phone is pretty essential, especially at uni.
It’s where your group chats live, where plans get made, where you set deadlines & reminders and a whole load more. So we get it, when people talk about cutting down on screen time it seems a bit unrealistic, but in honour of Screen Free Week we thought it’d be helpful to provide a little guide on cutting down on your blue light intake.
You don’t need to go fully offline to feel the benefits (although give it a go for sure!), but taking time away can very much be beneficial.
Why Does It Feel So Hard to Switch Off?
Picked up your phone for a minute and doom-scrolled for an hour? A lot of apps are designed to keep you scrolling, and notifications trigger something in your brain to keep you checking your device, so it’s never surprising to see just how much screen time you might get in a day. As a student specifically, there’s always something happening; messages, updates, due dates, events, catch ups, alarms… it’s exhausting and it adds up quickly.
So it might well feel like you’re struggling to focus during study time, staying up later than planned, checking your phone without thinking or feeling like you’re always “on”.
Start Small
The smaller the change, the more likely it is to stick. So you don’t necessarily need a full reset, just go one step at a time and see where you end up. This could be:
- Move distracting apps off your home screen
- Turn off notifications that don’t matter
- Set a daily screen time reminder
- Keep your phone out of reach while studying
- Install an app that blocks you from using certain “distracting apps” e.g., Opal, AppBlock, NoScroll
Stay Connected Without Being Constantly Online
One of the biggest worries people have is missing messages or plans – a bit of FOMO.
If you check your phone with purpose instead of just being online constantly you can still stay in touch and keep a healthy social life – people were doing it at uni before WhatsApp was a thing! Try replying to messages at set times rather than instantly, and put your phone on Do Not Disturb so you can’t be distracted by your notifications. You’re still available, you just don’t need to be plugged in all hours of the day.
Replace > Remove
Habit-swapping is a very useful tactic if you want to make a good go of this, so replacing your screen time with another activity to keep you from going back out of boredom. Make the most of your time at uni and swap in something like:
Cooking, playing games, movie night or some sort of shared activity with flatmates
Go for a walk, to the gym or play a team sport
Listen to some music without multitasking
Read, journal, or crack on with some coursework you’ve been avoiding!
A quick walk around the local area to get to know some new surroundings
Deep clean your room/shared space if it looks a little neglected
Utilise Your Student Accommodation
Where you live can make a big difference, and being in shared accommodation can be the perfect environment to distract you from your phone vibrating! It’s one of the easiest places to spend time with your mates in shared spaces and make the most of what’s going on around you.
Luckily, all Mezzino properties have communal areas; with facilities such as games zones, cinema rooms, on site gyms and outside courtyards to make breaking the ice a breeze and give you the opportunity to get some time away from your room. A lot of our accommodations even have regular planned events – keep your eyes peeled!
Rethink “Missing Out”
In reality, most things on your phone aren’t overly important, and a lot of the time messages can wait. This isn’t us saying neglect people – just have a more staggered approach to checking your notifications. Is it likely that plans will disappear if you don’t respond to them instantly? In many cases, spending less time on your phone might actually lead to missing less of what’s in front of you and build stronger connections with your pals in person.
Having a phone isn’t a problem, it’s a very useful tool in both your personal and educational life! But if you’ve found your screen time creeping up this could be the perfect opportunity to try and have a mini reset, or at least chip away at your current usage. You can have your own screen free week whenever you feel necessary, but the organised week is May 4th – 10th, and there are a whole load of useful resources if you wanted to get involved.
