The Power of Putting Down Your Phone

TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, Facebook…

We all have an addiction to one or another. Likely, if you’ve found this post, you have considered the fact that you spend too much time on your phone.

There is no shame in it. It’s something that we all face in an ever evolving technological world. We are just trying to keep up, right? Personally, TikTok has been such a downfall in my life. Truly, I spend more time on TikTok than with my family, hobbies, or even dedicated time to my business.

It was actually a client of mine that made me realize just how bad it was. This client was a young woman, newly entering adulthood. She was struggling with her college classes and having trouble prioritizing the things that were important. She was failing every class and was feeling depressed and unproductive. During the conversation, she said something that shook me and I had to take a moment to reflect on it. She said, “I think with things like TikTok and Instagram reels, my attention span has just been lowered to like, 10 seconds.” ‘’

I usually take pride in how few things shock me. I have seen and heard so many things that my egotistically young social work self thinks, “I know everything that I need to know.” This moment completely changed my perspective. We took a moment to talk about instant gratification and how it impacts our ability to make progress towards long-term goals. We discussed creating a routine, facing the uncomfortable feelings, and creating small goals dedicated to the larger goal in order to support the desire for instant gratification. After the session, I took some time to think about my TikTok usage and my own desire for instant gratification and lowered attention span.

I would like to say that I ended the session, opened up my phone, and deleted TikTok from my phone. But that would be a flat out lie. I continued the pattern of laying on the couch and continually doom scrolling. It wasn’t until about a week later that I had a free day, and accomplished absolutely nothing because I spent every free moment on my phone. I even tried to spend some time crocheting, which is one of my favorite things in the world to do, and I caught myself stopping about every 2 minutes to pick up my phone again. After a long day of feeling guilty and continuing the behavior, I finally decided to do something about it. I decided to start by doing something that was fun for me, because that was my motivation to get off of the couch in the first place.

I walked into the kitchen, put my phone on silent, and sat it face down on the counter. I baked a heart shaped cake for my upcoming graduation for my masters degree and decorated it with pretty pink frosting. I had Grey’s Anatomy playing in the background because I have seen it a million and one times so I wouldn’t feel the need to keep looking at the tv to see what was happening. (I seriously could quote that entire show and know exactly what is happening visually just from hearing it). After I was done, I caught myself again walking over to pick up my phone. It was a muscle memory at this point!

I took a minute, standing as still as a statue in the middle of the kitchen. At least, that’s what it looked like from the outside. Really, I was sitting with the uncomfortable feeling of avoiding the instant gratification of Tikok and practicing some positive affirmations about my ability to push through. That sounds crazy, right? Hyping myself up to just NOT pick up my phone?

But truthfully, there are many of us that feel the same way. Eventually, I decided to keep the momentum going and I ended up cleaning some areas of the house, doing laundry, and spending some quality time with my nephew and my cats. I felt more productive in those few hours than I had all day.

I didn’t write this blog to brag about my ability to deal with social media addiction, but to provide some insight to the thought process of an all too common problem. Realistically, TikTok is an important marketing tool for my business, and it is not realistic for my goals to delete the app completely. But thankfully, I have the tools necessary to process the uncomfortable feelings and the self-awareness to understand that my life cannot continue like this.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of endless scrolling, but real life and meaningful connections are waiting just outside the screen. I challenge you to put your phone down for even just 10 minutes a day—feel the shift in your mind and body as you reconnect with yourself, your loved ones, or the present moment. If you’re finding it hard to break free from digital distractions or want to explore how you can cultivate a healthier relationship with technology, I’m here to support you. Book a life coaching session today, and let’s work together to create the balanced, intentional life you deserve.