5 Habits That Helped Me Cut My Screen Time in Half

If you’re like me, lowering your screen time has been on your list of New Year’s resolutions for one year too many. And this year was no different. Motivated by the “new year, new me” mentality, you declared that 2026 was the year your phone took a turn on the back burner. But now, only a few weeks later, you already find yourself overriding your TikTok screen time limit quicker than Congress overriding a Johnson-era veto. Whether you want to admit it or not, you fear that before the flowers bloom for spring, your phone may become nearly impossible to escape.

This year, however, can be different. 2026 can be the year you finally take back power over the device tattooed on your palm. By following these five tips, you can diminish your screen time with habits that stick even better than your eyelash glue or fashion tape. This time next year, your screens probably won’t be out of your life entirely. But if you follow these guidelines, they will be entirely off your list of New Year’s resolutions.

1. Keep your screen out of sight and it will become out of mind

We often pick up our phones with no intention in mind. We seek to fill a second of boredom, to distract from a moment of frustration, or to satisfy a craving for something more. We see it, so we grab it, without any idea of what we’ll do once we have it in our grip, or, more accurately, once it has us in its grip.

The best way to curb this decade-old instinct is to remove your phone from your sight, or better yet, your vicinity altogether. Headed for a midday coffee with friends or a solo walk to clear your head? If safe, leave your phone behind to fend for itself. Writing your English Lit midterm? Stop texting your friends about the cute boy in the library and lock your phone in your backpack. When you get home for the day, chuck your phone where it’ll feel right at home, your junk drawer.

These changes may seem small, but they make the difference between night and night shift. It’s only once your phone is out of reach that you’ll realize how often you’ve been reaching for it. Every time your arm extends and your hand unsuccessfully feels around for it, you’ll face dissatisfaction rather than immediate distraction. Only then will you have the presence of mind to admit how bizarre it feels to be subconsciously grasping around for a metal box while relaxing with a good book or catching up with a good friend. Only then will you admit you have no clue why you were looking for it in the first place.

2. Make your phone look as boring as last season’s NYFW

While our fashion-savvy minds are often a superpower, when it comes to our phones, they misguide us. In selecting a patterned phone case and matching home screen, we think of our phones as an accessory rather than the tool that it is. However, making your phone as eye-catching as a custom handbag only enables these attention sucks to grasp our focus further. And let’s face it, no matter how chic your phone case is, holding a black metal device in your palm will always clash with the aesthetic you're going for.

Customizing the look of our phone is only the beginning of how its visual appeal draws us in. Research shows that blue light triggers the brain to release dopamine, making your phone more addictive than French fries or retail therapy. So if the visual appeal of our phones is contributing to our high screen time, let’s make our phones as visually unappealing as tartan or argyle on a midsummer’s day.

First and foremost, turn your phone on night shift mode permanently to diminish the blue light. Next, kill the colors by making your screen black and white (settings > color filters > grayscale). Then, dress your phone for a funeral: plain black phone case, plain black lock screen, plain black home screen. Remove all apps from your home screen besides the true essentials (for me, it’s maps, phone, and music). If you want to go the extra mile, buy a matte screen protector to replace the screen’s gloss with the paperwhite texture of a Kindle.

You'll be shocked at how vibrant the real world looks when your phone is dull. It takes being drawn to the colors of the world around you more than the ones on your screen to have the alarming realization that the reverse was ever true.

3. Your bedroom is for sleeping, not scrolling

The most important phone-free zone is your bedroom. The bedroom is a woman’s sanctuary. It's here that we pamper ourselves in our PJs. It's here that we select our favorite frills and fabrics while fashioning ourselves for a new day. And it's here, of course, that we catch our best beauty sleep.

Picture Grace Kelly fluffing her lavish throw pillows and easing into her silk sheets at the Palace of Monaco. After handpicking a novel from her carefully curated private library, the chatelaine is ready to plunge herself into the wondrous fantasies of fiction before dozing off into restful slumber. Now picture her scrolling on a smartphone instead. Picture strangers yelling at her through the screen about the death and destruction of war, swipe, a kitten nearly getting squashed by a car, swipe, a day in my life as a NYC nepo baby, swipe, guess who just became the sleaziest member of Congress, swipe, how I lost fifty pounds in six weeks, swipe, swipe, swipe.

As showcased by Princess Grace, nothing tarnishes the lavish image of winding down for bed in luxury quite like a smartphone. More than this, though, our phones fill our heads with racing thoughts at a time when we should be slowing down. Whether you're watching funny clips of stand-up comedy, reading about the latest political scandal, or merely looking at friends’ photo dumps, none of it will help you sleep. Even if the content is harmless, and that’s a big if, the blue light suppresses your melatonin, preventing your mind from growing sleepy. You deserve to be as peaceful as a princess tonight, so leave your phone in the kitchen. I promise it will be there when you wake up.

4. Learn how to tell time again

While falling asleep with your phone is a distressful end to the day, waking up to your phone spoils a day before it even begins. Infinitely snoozing your phone’s alarm not only imprisons you in the agony that is half-wake, half-sleep, it’s also bad for your sleep quality. And if you have roommates, it’s super annoying. Plus, once you finally do wake up, you inevitably pick up your phone and start scrolling. The last thing you do each day is also the first thing you do each day: swipe, swipe, swipe. And it’s equally as destructive in the AM as it is in the PM.

So how do we fix this conundrum? Enter the good old-fashioned analog alarm clock. Placing an alarm clock on the opposite side of your room from your bed forces you to get out of bed every morning on the first ring. Plus, there's no snooze button. You’re already up, so you might as well stay up. And most importantly, your phone is nowhere to be seen. An alarm clock allows you to ease into your day with your meticulously crafted skincare routine and fuzzy socks rather than absorbing blue light in the fetal position.

This tip doesn’t begin and end with your wake-up, though. Extend this habit throughout the rest of your day by wearing an analog wristwatch. Gone are the days of quickly checking the time on your phone and subsequently tending to the 13 notifications on your lock screen. Plus, adding a dainty bracelet watch to your stack is the most fashionable way of signaling to the world that you are officially a professional adult.

5. Ditch your phone for these old-fashioned go-tos

My biggest excuse for using my phone is that I feel like I need my phone. While a smartphone contains countless useless distractors, it also provides multiple helpful tools: camera, notes, flashlight, etc. Time spent on these apps is what I used to call “necessary screen time.” The problem with necessary screen time is that it almost always leads to unnecessary screen time.

And when you think about it, most necessary screen time is really not necessary at all. While a phone is often the most convenient way to access these tools, it's not the only way.

To arm yourself against your screen’s temptations, throw a film camera in your shoulder bag. Your kids will thank you when the photos of your roaring 20s are sun-soaked and grain-filled, not drenched in the drab monotony of the smartphone camera. While you’re at it, toss in a monogrammed notepad and fountain pen. You’ll look quite sophisticated jotting down a quick note to self without pulling out your phone. Oh, and stop using Apple Pay. Use your credit card, or better yet, gasp, cash. The more tasks you depend on your phone for, like paying the bill, the more excuses you have to bring it everywhere with you. But okay, fine, you don’t have to bring a literal flashlight around town with you. That app, I will allow.

Develop these five habits in 2026 and you'll finally achieve record lows when it comes to screen time and record highs when it comes to happiness. Most importantly, your next list of New Year’s resolutions will finally steer clear of screen time. Throughout the year, some of these changes may seem frivolous or extra. Old habits may seem too impossible to kick. When I feel discouraged, I like to remind myself that everyone, literally every human who has ever walked the Earth, lived their life just fine without a smartphone a mere 20 years ago. This year, we can too.