2 Simple Steps You Can Take to Spend Less Time on Your Phone and Spend More Time Being Creative
Recently, I’ve been working on recognizing when I’m spending too much time on my phone and scrolling on social media. On average, I am on Instagram and Youtube (combined) for about 3-5 hours a day. This has been an issue since I had my first smart phone back in 2013.
I had tumblr back in the day and the minute I was able to switch from scrolling on my family’s desktop computer to an app on my iPhone, I found myself picking up my phone more often than not. And besides scrolling through aesthetics photos on tumblr and running my small Loki fan page, I also watched hours of song covers and Ryan Higa on Youtube, and I read a lot of fan fiction in my downtime.
I would be on my phone first thing in the morning. I spent my weekends scrolling and rotting on the couch. I remember about 3 instances where I had gone to another room to do something and when I came back to look for my phone it was nowhere in sight. Angry, I realized that my mom had hidden it somewhere and demanded that she gave it back to me. She resisted initially then finally gave in. I would watch, exasperated that she hid it from me in the first place. She always commented that I was on it too much. I knew that even back then she wasn’t wrong about that.
Nearly a decade later, I have been working on reflecting on how many hours I have been online for according to my screen time report. I am also finally recognizing that I am allowing myself to go through a rollercoaster of emotions from watching videos filled with people angrily commenting, some video about how a food I like to eat causes cancer, watching cute dogs and cats, and how to clean grout floors with a steamer. I’ve also been working on noticing when and why I reach for my phone and that’s because of 2 reasons:
I’m bored.
I want to feel good (Fast).
That’s where my joy of creating comes in. It takes some effort to set up my craft supplies. Depending on what it is that I’m doing, I reach into my drawer or closet of supplies to fish out the drawing pad I’ve been using, collection of beads, paint supplies, and more. Whereas picking up my 6 inch block it easy peasy. The mindset shift that I had to make from this is that choosing to put the effort in towards things that I care about is worth it to me and more rewarding in the long run.
When I choose to work on being creative, I also choose to work on improving my skills and learning new ones. When something is difficult but I get through it, I’ve basically gained experience points. The aim for creating is not to always necessarily finish a project but to work through and figure out how something can be improved.
When I scroll for hours I feel depleted. Maybe I learned some useful hacks along the way but I don’t remember them because of all the other information I put my brain through, so I have to save it for later and hopefully be able to find it among my hundreds of other saved posts. The value of being on my phone does not surpass the value I get from finding time doing things I find fulfilling.
I spend time writing about my experiences as just another human being wanting to create again because it helps me reflect on my behavior. I want to share my lessons with people who are going through similar situations to encourage them to go back to doing what they love. We exist for such a short amount of time. Your phone is filled with infinite information that will be there for a long time. Use it as a tool and resource, but don’t allow it deplete your energy to do the things you love. You only have so many hours in your day to spare and to be creative!
So before you reach for your phone again, try these 2 simple steps:
Recognize how you’re feeling and why you’re feeling that way. Once you recognize that you’re bored and want to do something, it doesn’t have to be an activity that’s on your phone.
Make it easier to access these things you love. For example, if you want to water color more keep your paintbrushes, paint, and watercolor paper set up and ready for you.
Frogs and Mushrooms
I’ve been learning how to use alcohol markers that I purchased early 2025. I had them put away in storage but now that I have them on my desk, I like to draw and practice during my downtime!
See you in the next post,
Joanna
