We all know that people nowadays spend too much time on their mobile phones. Whether we are out or at home, everyone’s eyes are focused on the mobile phone screen. But even if we recognize the problem, it’s difficult to correct it.

While it can be hard to disconnect from your phone, there are some ways to help：

1.Turn on your phone’s grayscale setting.

One scientifically-backed way to make your phone less interesting is to turn on the grayscale feature; most smartphones have this option that turns the colors on your phone to gray.

On iPhone, you can turn on grayscale by going to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Color Filters. Here you can open the color filter and select grayscale from the options. On Android, go to Settings > Accessibility > Color & Motion > Color Correction and select Grayscale from the options.

“We know that the bright colors and movement on a screen hit our dopamine receptors similar to other addictive qualities like drugs, alcohol, things like that, and so when there’s less bright colors, we don’t have as much of a dopamine high happening,” Dumler said. “So then it’s less addictive, and we’re less likely to get lost in the scrolling.”

In fact, a 2022 study found that those who turned on their grayscale setting were less tempted to pick up their phone when compared to those who did not use this tool, Dumler added.

2.Put your phone on silent.

The sound of incoming texts and emails is hard to ignore. If anything, they actually make your brain want to pick up your phone.

“We know from science and research being done that the sound of a notification when your phone is on loud hits your brain and our dopamine receptors the same way a drug or substance would. It’s that addicting,” Dumler said. “So, if you have your phone on loud and you have notifications going, the minute you see that screen light up or you hear that little ding, we get addicted to that and we need to immediately stop what we’re doing and check it.”

Setting your phone to silent or even turning off push notifications to avoid this can be very helpful.

3. Put a barrier between you and your phone.

It’s hard to scroll social media, text or browse the internet when there is an actual hair band or rubber band around your phone — “it kind of creates that mindfulness,” Mahony said.

Many folks mindlessly pick up their phones, almost as a reflex when they’re waiting in line at the store or during a commercial break. This tip brings a sense of awareness to our phone use and reminds our brains that we are going on our phones during this moment, Mahony said.

4. Move your phone away from your body.

When something is always within your sight, it’s natural to want to reach for it. To combat this problem, Black says it’s important to keep your phone away from your body and out of your sight. That means from your hands, from your pocket, or from the table in front of you.

You could try leaving your phone upstairs or in a kitchen drawer while watching a movie with your family. It’s not easy, so if it takes a few tries, that’s okay.

5. Organize your apps intentionally.

If you’re always opening your TikTok app or your Pinterest app, it could be a good idea to make those things a little less accessible to ease the temptation.

You can keep an app active while adding a few extra steps — or in this case, clicks — to use it, Dumler advised. This could mean putting it in a folder or on one of the subsequent screens that follows the main home screen.

To do this, Dumler suggests that you move your frequently used apps off of your home screen. How to go about this depends on your phone, but it’s another easy Google search to figure out how (if you don’t know already).

This way, it isn’t immediately accessible and you won’t be so inclined to open the app.