At this point, youve probably read of the detrimental impact doomscrolling habits can have on your mental health (if you couldnt already tell by the fact that doing it makes you feel terrible). Maybe youve even cut back a little. But then last week happened. And even if youre now more in the territory of cautious-optimism-scrolling, the latest twists in the news cycle have probably put your phones firmly back into your hands.
Now that the election has been decided(-ish), though, you may find you are once again in need of help managing your phone additionwhich might be even stronger than before. If youre looking to change things, you may want to consider trying to kick your phone using a technique designed to help people manage another major addiction: smoking. Heres what to do.
The methodology
When Australian writer McKinley Valentine realized that she was constantly checking her phone and that the constant stream of garbage commentary it exposed her to was bringing down her mood, she decided to do something about it. In an article about her experience written for Better Humans, she describeshow she got started:
I tried turning notifications off on every app. I just got anxious and opened the apps more often.
I tried deleting the apps that caused problemssocial media, news, messagesfrom my phone. I ended up just accessing them in the browser.
I tried using apps like Stay Focused to block my access. Id just disable them.
I tried just not checking my phonethe cold turkey methodand folks, it didnt go great. All it did was add a layer of guilt to my bad habit and sour mood.
I thought: I have to get smarter about this. Who knows about addiction? What addiction has been studied in-depth, for decades, with an absolutely massive group of experiment subjects, to establish the best-practice methods? Cigarettes!
Valentine then tried several research-backed smoking cessation techniques before landing on one that worked better than the others: Allen Carrs Easy Way to Quit Smoking, found in his 2011 book of the same name.
The Alan Carr method
Not only did Valentines brother have success quitting smoking using Alan Carrs Easy Way (ACE), the method also has withstood scrutiny in studiesincluding one published in 2020 in the journal Addiction, which found that its as effective as traditional smoking cessation techniques.These are the steps:
Remind yourself of what smoking/phone use does to you
Carr begins with a rundown of all the negative outcomes of smoking (Valentine recreated this by reading a bunch of internet articles on the subject). Yes, its mostly stuff we already know, but the point is to reinforce the idea that there is a huge disconnect between what we want and what we actually enjoy.
Heres how Valentine explains it:
Carr recommends working to really notice and internalize that disconnect. He tells smokers to pay attention to their next cigarette. Its like mindfulness but for noticing the unpleasantness. How does it taste? Not, how did you imagine it would taste when you were craving it, but how does it actually taste? Does it smell nice? Do your hands smell nice? How do you feel do you actually feel more relaxed, or do you feel worse?
She then tried this mindfulness strategy by spending a few minutes on Twitter, and noticed that she definitely felt worse afterward. The more I really paid attention to the reality of how much I liked checking my phone, the easier it became to resist the impulse. It just becameobvious, she writes.
Set a date
Next on the anti-smoking (or in this case, phone) agenda: setting a date to quit and actively looking forward to it. Per Valentine:
Dont think, Oh god, I have to quit. Thats gonna suck. Tell yourself, I cant wait till I quit! Im gonna be so much less stressed, Ill have more free time, Ill be a more attentive friend See quitting as a glorious opportunity, something to anticipate, not a burden.
From here, Valentine continued with the rest of Carrs methods, which can be found on his website. She does caution that the site really pushes his seminars and other things you have to pay for, but you can get everything you need from the book (which is available for purchase in the usual spots).
The results
Of all the smoking cession techniques she attempted (you can read about those in her article), Valentine had the most success with Carrs, which, she says, didnt just help her resist the urge to check her phoneit removed them:
In the end, it wasnt so much like choosing the obviously better option I mean, Ive known for years that there are better options than getting tense and wired every time I have a break. It was more like the decision was made for me at a layer deeper than my usual verbal thinking brain. It just settled there and became reality.
And while she didnt undergo a miraculous, life-changing experience exactly, Valentine does say that the difference in her mood has been noticeable, and the flow of her days has improved without all the constant phone-checking. If youve found yourself in a similar place post-election, you may want to give Carrs method a shot.read more
Kick Your Phone Habit With This Smoking-Cessation Technique
