By Landon Nayoan –
A whopping 89% of Americans grab their phones within the first 10 minutes of getting out of bed, says addiction expert Arthur Brooks.
Most people don’t realize that their screen time is eerily similar to drug or alcohol addiction.
“A lot of people are not convinced that they’re addicted to their devices,” says Brooks. “And one of the big reasons for that is because pretty much everybody is.”
Phones were designed to make life more convenient and enjoyable through texts, phone calls, social media, etc. However, these features create addiction in most everyday people.
Fortunately, Brooks has developed a three-step system to overcome addiction.
- You need to get disgusted with your addiction. Anger toward technology for taking control of life and wasting time is the most basic step toward breaking free.
- Use a detox. Overcoming addiction is a psychological battle. It’s not instant, there are processes involved. The cycles of the brain have to be interrupted and changed. In order to overcome phone addiction there must be limited access phones at all times.
- Live sober, the hardest step of day-by-day breaking the old habit. There needs to be lifestyle changes. “The problem isn’t that you were trying to go someplace else, the problem is you were trying to escape from inside your own head,” says Brooks. “You need to become comfortable with boredom.”
“The good news about tech addiction is that it’s actually easier to break than many chemical addictions,” says Brooks.
