“Modern Life is moving faster than
the speed of thought, or
thoughtfulness” – Rebecca Solnit
Just the other day, I left my phone at home, while leaving for the grocery store. My list of items were saved in “The Note”, few pictures of items, the type of which I wanted to be exact, was in the photo gallery, my e-payment app was on my phone. Also, I was suppose to call my husband on my way to the market, to ask if he needs anything… OMG, as if my world stopped, the moment I realized that I forgot my phone at home.
Smartphones have become an inseparable part of our lives, don’t you think? We use it to set our morning alarm for work or school, to communicate with our people anywhere in the world on Whatsapp, to track down our friends to make sure they are safe using apps like MapMyIndia or GeoTracker listening to music on Spotify, reading News, watching YouTube videos, to check our emails, and of course to take our daily selfies and OOTD for our social media posts 😉
Our modern lifestyle has paced up and so has our reliance on our mobile phones. Can you imagine, we don’t need a table alarm clock to wake up early or a wrist watch to value time. Smartphones are helping us do payments, financial transactions, navigating, communicating, reading books, texting, gaming, emailing, and scheduling routines, staying connected with friends across continents through social media… pheeew. Haven’t you reminded your team mate to send you google invite for the impending meeting, or you might just forget joining them? See, we no longer trust our memory. In other words, anything you can do on a computer, you can perform on a smartphone.
An undeniable fact that an uncontrolled smartphone usage evidently impacts our lifestyle in a negative way and dependency on it, has a detrimental affect on us. The smart phone addiction is leading to :
- Sleeping disorder
- lack of focus
- Anxiety
- Reduced cognition
- Elevated stress level
- Loneliness
- Impaired relationships
- & Reduced productivity
No doubt smartphone technology makes our lives easier and has brought many benefits for millions of people. But our dependence on it, not only for the daily operations but even for entertainment has gradually made us it’s slave. With the advancement of technology, our need to be on screen has tremendously elevated. A recent study revealed that users who spend more time on social media platforms such as instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok could have much higher rates of reported depression than their peers who spend less time on social media. Damn!
Here are the top 8 applications which could help you control your screen time and increase your “Real Time” presence. 😉
- Stay Free -Stay Focused (For Android) : A Tracking application usage and screen time. Helps you beat smart phone addiction with digital detox.
- YourHour- ScreenTime Control (For Android) : Curated for digital wellbeing. Thus application helps the user manage screen time by creating challenge for one self.
- ScreenTime (For IOS) : ScreenTime app is amongst the best Android Free apps to limit screen time. It has a free 14-day trial period after which you can use the free package or acquire a subscription.
- UnGlue (For Android) : Designed simply to impress the Unglue Parental Control App makes to our list of the best free apps to limit screen time. The app was designed with an agenda to allow kids to have fun on the Internet, with moderation.
- Moment (For IOS) : This is an iOS app to limit screen time that has one very unique feature – Moment Coach. It is a feature designed to help you get back some of the time lost on over usage of your phone.
- BreakFree (For Android) : BreakFree is a unique app that comes with a newly incorporated feature to help you analyze your kid’s phone usage.
- Our Pact (For IOS) : With a litany of features, this comes around among the best free apps to limit screen time for iPhone.
- Freedom : This app is the most popular app to limit screen time used by more than millions of users. You can use this app to block specific apps and websites that distract you during the day like Facebook or Instagram.
It is high time we should recognize and acknowledge that a digital detox is necessary to optimize the presence of technology and an everlasting urge to stay connected AND experience JOMO (Joy Of Missing Out)! It is essential to know how to set boundaries and for that we need to use technology to stop using technology. If that makes sense. Which digital detox application have you been using to control your screen time?
