Use Android’s built-in settings to cut your phone’s usage time in half

“There is something wrong with my phone.”

I was talking to a friend about how the battery life in a Google Pixel 9 Pro it slowly degraded over time. Normally, my phone lasts all day, but in the middle of the evening, I had it recharge. That’s when he approaches me: I’m the problem. Between doomscrolling on Instagram and obsessively checking my email, I used my phone way too much.

Android has some built-in tools grouped under the Digital Wellbeing banner, including a sleep mode, a notification manager, and timers that let you set limits on how long you’re allowed to have each app open. I have known about this feature for years; After all, it has been announced before back in 2018. Am I using this stuff consistently? Not really.

For years, I’ve practiced a few productivity hacks. I deleted the Facebook app on my phone and now only use this service on my laptop. I also charge my phone in the kitchen, which helps me avoid using it in bed. However, these methods were not enough. My phone was still dying around 8pm everyday due to too much mindless scrolling. I needed to take control of my use. This is how I finally broke the spell.

Set Timers on your most used Apps

Google includes app usage timers on all Android phones that let you set hard limits on individual apps. To access the timers, go to Settingsthen search Digital well-being. The features look a little different on a Samsung Galaxy phone than them Pixels and others Android phonesbut everything works the same. I usually check at night to see my daily stats. On the main settings screen, there is a dashboard that shows you the total usage time for the day and which apps are the main culprits. You can also see the total number of phone unlocks and the total number of notifications received for the day.

To reduce your usage time, start with app timers. Setting hard time limits may seem a bit draconian at first, but timers work because they automatically close the app for us and snap us out of our stupor. We realize that we are doomscrolling on TikTok all day or surfing the web too much. In his book Deceivedproductivity expert Nir Eyal says that we are not really addicted to our phones. It is a clinical term that should be reserved for more serious problems. Instead, we are obsessed. The dopamine hit we get from almost every “like” or comment on social media fuels our obsession.

I started with an app timer in Google Chrome and to be honest, it was painful. I set the time limit to 45 minutes and seemed to reach that limit at lunchtime every day. With a minute to spare, the screen turns gray as a warning that the app is about to close. I set the timer up to 90 minutes and that seemed to work better. When you reach the limit, you have to reset the timer or use a browser on another device. It works to curb your use because you have to exert an effort to overcome a limitation that you have imposed and you have to live. I also set limits on the Gmail app, Messages, Instagram and TikTok.

Here, setting time limits meant that my total usage time went from 4 hours and 30 minutes per day to 3 hours and 30 minutes. I got an hour of my life back every day. Not bad, but I wanted to reduce my screen time even more, so I turned to a few radical techniques.

Take a few radical steps

Google includes some other settings that make your phone less attractive. For example, Android’s sleep mode dims the screen and turns it all black and white. To find this option, go to the Digital Wellbeing settings, search Sleep mode and set the usage period to start around 8 p.m. This also disables notifications until the next morning. For me, sleep mode helped because it was a visual reminder to put the phone down and stop scrolling. I reduced my usage by another hour.

Unfortunately, I still use my phone too much. For me, there is always the attraction of notifications about new text messages, Discord chats and emails. Who is contacting me? What do they need? Again, we crave the dopamine hit that comes when we hear those dings. We feel useful and productive when we respond, but the downside is that we are glued to our screens even more.