There are many approaches to reduce the time you spend on your phone, but another strategy is to change how you use it. Here are some ways to spend time on your phone that may give you more positive experiences.<\/p>\n
Play an online game<\/p>\n
Cognitive engagement is good for your brain, and fast-paced action video games \u2013 such as Call of Duty and Fortnite \u2013 have been found to boost cognition. Research has also linked games such as crosswords and board games to cognitive benefits. Smartphone apps have made these games easy to pick up anywhere you have your phone and service.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like board games, and some board games also have mobile versions,\u201d said Bayer, who enjoys playing the bird-themed game Wingspan on his phone. The app allows you to take turns asynchronously, meaning you can play during spare moments; Bayer\u2019s friend, who is a therapist, likes to take her turns between patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying an online board game for a minute makes you feel a little boost of energy in between work tasks,\u201d Bayer said.<\/p>\n
Other popular board games converted from tabletop to phone include Catan, Codenames, Ticket to Ride, Ark Nova and Terraforming Mars.<\/p>\n
Get a library app<\/p>\n
Curling up with a good book \u2013 or magazine or newspaper \u2013 is good for your brain, and it has been linked to increased longevity and slower rates of cognitive decline.<\/p>\n
Many library apps give you ready access to read or listen to e-books, audiobooks and magazines from your local library. You can also try different e-reading apps to make it easy for you to bring your latest novel with you on your commute.<\/p>\n
Find a subreddit about your favourite hobby<\/p>\n
Smartphones can link you to all the knowledge and community about your hobbies outside of work. Research has found that hobbies are linked to better mental health and that pursuing creative hobbies, including music, dance and art, is linked to delayed brain ageing.<\/p>\n
Reddit can be a great resource because \u201cyou can find a subreddit [community] for any hobby you have,\u201d said Elhai, who finds Reddit \u201chelpful in terms of gaining more information about different hobbies\u201d.<\/p>\n
Try a mindfulness app<\/p>\n
Research has found that mindfulness exercises can be as effective as anxiety medication in reducing anxious feelings and that even short bouts of meditation can help people achieve \u201crelaxed alertness\u201d. Popular apps include Headspace and Calm.<\/p>\n
Plus, mindfulness can help you reach other health goals, potentially including a better relationship with your smartphone. Research finds that having more mindful awareness is linked to healthier uses of the smartphone.<\/p>\n
People who are more in tune with how they use their smartphone \u2013 and when to put it down \u2013 are more protected from problematic use \u201cthan people who just mindlessly, instead of mindfully, keep scrolling on their phone,\u201d Elhai said.<\/p>\n
Learn a new language<\/p>\n
Learning another language is a great way to stimulate your brain; research has found that being multilingual is linked to delayed dementia diagnoses and that the brains of people who spoke two or three languages looked six years younger compared with those who spoke only one.<\/p>\n
Smartphones allow you to take your language lessons on the go.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like you can spend all the time in person talking to people in that target language,\u201d but if you have time on your phone, that can be beneficial, said Elhai, who uses Pimsleur for language learning and Italki to practice with native speakers.<\/p>\n
Jot down what you\u2019re grateful for<\/p>\n
Giving thanks for the good in your life is good for you, and research shows that having more gratitude is linked to less loneliness.<\/p>\n
Instead of scrolling through your social media feed, you can consider \u201capps that have been designed for you to journal and to indicate what you\u2019re grateful for every day to try to help keep an optimistic mood,\u201d Elhai said.<\/p>\n
Some example apps include Three Good Things and Gratitude. But even just opening up your default note-taking app can be a place to jot down your thoughts, feelings and remembrances about your day.<\/p>\n
Text, call or send a funny meme<\/p>\n
We tend to be happiest when we\u2019re with other people in person, and research finds that doing almost anything is better with friends.<\/p>\n
But socialising with another person through our phone \u2013 through texting, social media or even good old-fashioned calling \u2013 may be the next best thing. Connecting with others \u2013 the original goal of phones \u2013 may be the most rewarding use of smartphones.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people are just using their phones in nonsocial ways, like they\u2019re just listening to music, they\u2019re watching movies, maybe in the short term, it\u2019s pleasurable,\u201d Elhai said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not as pleasurable as engaging in social use.\u201d<\/p>\n
Research shows people tend to underestimate how rewarding reaching out to others can be, for both parties, even out of the blue. Being on your phone is an opportunity to reconnect with someone. A few minutes might be enough to send a \u201cthinking of you\u201d or start setting up plans to meet up or share a funny meme.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are many approaches to reduce the time you spend on your phone, but another strategy is to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[9526,29816,192,9442,12974,6309,5511,5829,342,111,139,69,90,16792,4887,111262,56442,14040,656,145,131,1361,684,6035,2044,61,1959],"class_list":["post-582776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-another","tag-approaches","tag-are","tag-better","tag-change","tag-do","tag-just","tag-many","tag-mobile","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-phone","tag-reduce","tag-sciencebacked","tag-scrolling","tag-spend","tag-strategy","tag-technology","tag-than","tag-that","tag-there","tag-things","tag-time","tag-to","tag-your"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}