I used to think that I don’t spend much time on my phone – then I saw the harsh reality. I wanted to fix this, so I did some research and found a tool that helps reduce phone usage at its worst: late at night. The solution I found is surprisingly easy and doesn’t require third-party software.
Having the Internet in your pocket is not that difficult
I’ve learned something very important this year: just because you’re not on social media doesn’t mean you can’t be addicted to your phone. I am guilty too doom-scrolling and falling down the rabbit hole like everyone else. I get distracted when I read Mental Floss or Metafilterand don’t even get me started on how much time I spend listening to/curating music or watching sandwich videos.
I spend a lot of time on the Internet Archive, Neocities, and reading my favorite websites. i have it’s too much RSS feeds on both news ship and FreshRSS. Actually, I have six terminal windows now 37 tabs in Termux and Firefox on my phone.
My phone says I’m spending more time on it than I should. Lucky for me (and you), my phone has a feature that can help.
Digital Wellbeing is great for reducing screen time
I used several different settings to achieve my goal
While Digital Health is certainly not hidden in Android settings, it is often overlooked. I know because I didn’t even know I had such a thing on my phone until I actually opened the settings. Apparently it was something that has been in Android for a long timebut it was never on my radar.
I guess I just thought I didn’t need it. I was wrong.
When I first seriously thought about this, my first thought was to set a timer to make everything gray. I like (and sometimes prefer) gray, so I knew this wouldn’t work. But Digital Health was exactly what I was looking for.
A version of these steps should work on any Android device with Digital Health, but your device may be configured differently or have different settings than my Moto G.
I went with my phone Settings > Digital Health and parental controls (some devices separate these two things into separate sections). In Settings you have four main tools which can be categorized as follows:
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Application timers
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Sleep time mode
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Focus
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Screen time reminders
If you can’t find these settings easily, search by name.
if you navigate Application timersyou can choose certain programs to be unavailable during a certain time interval. When the time you specify rotates, the apps will be grayed out and you won’t be able to use them without canceling the sleep mode.
It has helped me a lot and I don’t mind going beyond my settings to use these apps.
I use it too Sleep time mode and Screen time reminders. While working on this draft, I received a pop-up notification saying that I had already spent 20 minutes in the app.
So I took a break.
My screen time is down by about two hours
Free time to pursue other hobbies again
During the time I started using Digital Health more often, not only did my phone usage drop from 2-4 hours per week, but I also found time. review other hobbies i use.
I watched the first season in its entirety I think you should leave. I wrote a new song for the album. And I built Gunpla models (plastic model kits of robots Mobile Suit Gundam) all in the first week after building it.
I now have more time each week to work on lab projects at home, spend time with my wife, and do other things because I basically limit my screen time.
I’m glad I’m putting the phone down for a while and will continue to use Digital Wellbeing on any daily Android device in the future.
I also found a more fun, less automated method
The mobile app helps me focus when I need it
While it’s helpful to have an automated digital wellness setting, there are times when I need to access specific programs. But I found a focusing app that helped more than I thought.
I’m talking about an Internet personality/author/musician Hank Green’s Focus Friend. It’s a passive focus program where you set the amount of time you want to focus while the anthropomorphic bean weaves things. If you lose focus or touch the phone, it stops touching and you lose your progress.
It’s a great, cute idea to play games without touching your phone during mealtimes, meetings, or movies. It complements my Digital Health settings nicely. It’s also charming with a soothing soundtrack and it’s 100% free.
Getting away from the screen doesn’t have to be painful
Screen time and phone obsession have been issues for a while. Modern life sometimes demands it. It’s 2026 and I never cease to be amazed by the fact that I always have a powerful computer in my pocket and can do so many useful and wonderful things with it. But I learned to stay away from it for a while. And that’s a pretty good thing.
