Mom’s right, it is because of that phone; here’s how hobbies can help

Recently, over spring break I was reminded again that I spend way too much time on my phone. I was coming to the end of one of my many scroll sessions throughout the day and I realized I had been scrolling for five hours straight. I immediately experienced what I call “post-scroll clarity,” or a feeling of disappointment in myself after spending another day essentially doing nothing.

Even with my week-long break, I made no effort to resume hobbies I believed were deprioritized because of school. On that fateful Wednesday afternoon I decided that I needed to make an effort to change my ways and this change starts with my phone.

Hobbies are activities that someone does regularly for recreation during their freetime. When I was younger I used to paint, draw, read and a lot more. 

I did these activities almost every single day.

Today, my crippling addiction to my phone has me averaging 33 hours of TikTok a week during all of my freetime outside of school which leaves no time for other activities I care about.

This is not the first time that I’ve tried to make a change. Within the past two years I’ve been really adamant about getting back into old hobbies of mine. 

I bought new paint supplies and made an effort to go to the library and check out new books.

Whether I was reading or painting I could not get through anything without taking an insanely long “break” to look at my phone, before giving up and not finishing anything. This time, though, I know the root of my problem is my phone.

In a 2024 report about teens and screen time, the Pew Research Center found 44% of teens say being without their phone makes them anxious. 

The anxiety surrounding being without a phone is associated with an unhealthy dependency teens might have with their phones. Despite this addiction, only four in ten teens are making efforts to cut back on their screen time.

Teens aren’t the only demographic facing issues with a dependency on their phones. In the same report, the Pew Research Center found that 47% of parents feel that they spend too much time on their phone.

Alternately, in a study on the association of hobbies to psychological and physical well being, the National Library of Medicine found that people who take time to participate in leisurely activities have better psychological and physical functions.

Higher PEAT scores, or Pittsburgh Enjoyable Activities Index, were associated with greater positive affect, life satisfaction and life engagement. They also were associated with lower levels of negative affect and depression.

 Participating in hobbies scientifically makes people happier, so there are limited excuses to delay learning that new skill or picking up an old one. If you can’t seem to put the phone down there are some suggested ways to curb your craving.

One way to start getting off the phone is weaning yourself off of it slowly. Today, phones are able to tell you a lot of things about your activity. 

They can tell you how long you’ve been on them for, what apps you use most and more.

You can use these metrics to your advantage and set the amount of time that you want to be allowed for apps you find yourself on the most often.

Mitigating your amount of screen time sounds easy, but the key is to abide by the boundaries you have set for yourself.

Another way is to physically separate yourself from your phone. You can lock it away, bury it or drop it in the deepest canyon on earth, it does not matter where you put it. The goal is to keep it away from you until your activity or task is complete.

An alternate version of physically taking it away is either turning it off completely or turning off your notifications. 

If checking your phone is your problem then limiting the amount of reasons you have to check it is a good way to not look at it.

Regardless of your preferred method the most important thing is that you attempt to remain consistent because no one is going to hold yourself accountable but you, so really give it your best try. 

It’s not easy to get rid of habits, but with some discipline and a genuine desire to change the goal becomes attainable.

Gone are the days of endless scrolling until my head hurts and my eyes are sore. Gone are the days of wasted time. Happiness, productivity and creativity awaits you and me on the other side of our screens.