4 Tips To Break Your Phone Addiction || Mayim Bialik

Hey, it's Mayim, and I want to know - do you remember a time before your smartphone? What did you do during unexpected downtime? I'm definitely guilty of relying on my phone, or checking it, or playing on it way way too much. So, here are some ways I (and maybe you!) can break phone addiction! Are you a slave to your phone? Let's chat about it.
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You may know me as Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory, or from Blossom, but hopefully, these videos allow you to get to know me better as Mayim, too! Subscribe to my channel for video updates. I upload new videos every Thursday!

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About Mayim Bialik:
You ​might know me as Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory or from Blossom​ but there are so many other parts of me that you might not be aware of​!​​ I’m trained ​as a​ neuroscientist, ​I'm ​a passionate activist, an observant Jew, a​ perfectly imperfect​ mother, and ​I'm a complicated human being​ like many of you​. This is the place where I wear ​all of those hats - and none of them have a flower on them! ;)

[kristopherbarker]

What's ironic is, I'm trying to stop my phone use, but I'm watching this on a phone.

[GamesLover-sjrs]

Watching this instead of studying for my exam :')

[perspectiveforsmile]

I’ve literally watched 16 hours of YouTube today because I deleted

[rupinlamistoufle]

I'm currently reading a book called "How to break up with your phone" by Catherine Price and it's freaking me out a bit. Ok a lot. She talks about neuroscience and how our phones amplifies anxiety and depression and reduces our attention span, and a lot of other interestingly scary facts about our phones. The first part of the book is designed to freak you out, and the second part is a 30 days action plan to build healthier habits with your phone. I highly recommend it !!!

[latinacelt]

I didn’t think I was a slave to my phone until someone said, “Did you realize if you spend two hours a day on your phone you are actually spending a month out of the year on your phone?” That was eye opening:

[berglettemom]

This couldn’t come at a better time for me, Mayim. I’m struggling with severe depression, and I’m pretty sure my phone addiction is a major part of the problem. I wake up much too late every morning and then spend hours scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, looking at the lives of other people, instead of getting up and living my own life. I might begin by not bringing my phone to the bedroom every night. If it’s downstairs, maybe I’ll be more motivated to get out of bed.

[dezb]

You forgot before we had smart phones we all read the shampoo bottle when we 💩🤣🤣

[comajac]

I don't use any social media any more. I'm 26 and my friends think i'm crazy, but Fb, Instagram etc are stresfull to me so I don't want it in my life.

[elizabethchurch]

I'm addicted, oddly enough, to YouTube videos. My phone rules my mommy list day.

[andyjones]

Phone is turned off as soon as my wife gets home for work, and only turned on as I leave for work the next day. Saturday and Sunday on at 9am and off at 6pm. Works for me.

[aylaludwig]

This has been a huge issue for me that I've been taking steps to tackle this summer. I too usually reach for my phone first thing in the morning, so I bought an actual alarm clock and I now charge my phone in a different room at night. The alarm clock glows really calming colors so after I wake up, I lay in bed and stretch with the room gently illuminated. During this time, my husband and I tell each other about our dreams. That sure beats scrolling through my news feed first thing in the morning!

[emilythompson]

Inspired by boredom! Love that phrase!

[downtoawhisper]

"It's like the Jetsons. You know that show? No. you're too young. Anyway." haha! That's hilarious!

[keriezy]

I deleted Facebook a week before the crash and $120B loss... it has been hard, but I've stopped automatically reaching for the app when I'm bored.... now I grab my book.

[elizabethbrink]

Thank you for addressing this issue. It breaks my heart to see parents and kids out at dinner, shopping, etc where the child and or parents are glued to the screen. I use our time out to talk to my infant, I point things out and we talk about what we are doing and what we see. She loves to people watch! The comment she receives most often is how alert she looks. I like to attribute that to limited screen time. Of course this means I’ve had to keep the tv off at home as well. 🙆🏻‍♀️

[MarkColemanRules]

Mobile phones paradoxically liberate you, and enslave you. Nice video Mayim, I remember life before cellphones....

[laurenmawe]

Thanks for posting this Mayim! I think about this a lot. Here's 5 that I do:
1. I keep a separate mail app on my phone for work, so there's one place where I can see if I got a personal email and one place where I see if I got a work email. It helps me separate areas of my life, especially making decisions about what is urgent to respond to.
2. I try to charge my phone at night somewhere where it's not in reach while I'm in bed so I /can't/ fall asleep to scrolling, or wake up to my phone (sometimes I give myself a break on this though, haha).
3. I try to keep my phone in my purse while I am out at a meal, so I'm not tempted to scroll while I'm spending time with friends. If I do get my phone out I have to make a conscious choice about it. I try to leave my phone in the other room when I am eating dinner with family. If I do need to have my phone on hand, I keep it face down.
4. If I see that I am wasting time on an app I will delete it for a while, and re-download it when I feel like I've re-centered.
5. I turned off the notifications for things that aren't really important to me. I don't need the notifications that most of my apps try to send me, especially social media. I turned off the sounds *and lock screen banners* for emails. If I'm expecting an urgent email, I will turn the sounds back on temporarily.
I feel like there must be more, and I do most of the things you mentioned too! "Du Courage" and good work to everyone trying to make conscious choices about the role of their smart phone in their life.

[oliverxhmll]

I feel like I was always searching to be with other people when smartphones didnt exist. When i was a kid I was constantly at my cousins, with friends or my grandmas. Smartphones are so isolating, because you feel like you're interacting with the world or people but you really arent.

[lizcook]

We have implemented a couple of new rules for this school year. One is tablets/technology on the weekends only. Also, we read from 7:30-8:00 every night. It has to be a physical book, and we have to be in the same room together. It has made the first week of school much more calm. I'm very excited about this family endeavor. When the alarm goes off to put the book away, we give each kiddo a hug and tell them something positive. I *might* have started this for a selfish reason, ok, two selfish reasons, but it works for everyone. My middle schoolers have to keep reading logs for school, and that time guarantees they meet their reading goals each week. Also, I really need the quiet in the evening, and it gets all of us off technology for at least a set amount of time.

[iheartigloos]

I needed this!! Thank you! I've been using my phone as an escape. Being a person that suffers from ADD, severe anxiety, PTSD, and depression....It's easy to become enveloped in a world where I can complete things and feel good....in that moment. It's not lasting satisfaction and in the end makes me feel worse but yet I keep diving into the fantasy. Games, emails, text messages, to do list for things to complete ON my phone (I hope this isn't just me), shows, vlogs, blogs, news, etc....can all be completed in an instant. Real life tasks are difficult and long and when I don't get through them completely it makes me feel worthless and broken. This makes me go BACK to my phone.... It's a vicious cycle.

I'm hoping to take your tips and apply them and to not be too hard on myself if I stumble.