7 ways I plan to break up with my cell phone in 2019

Do you also feel that you are using your phone too much? Well, that has been one thing that constantly bothered me throughout 2018 - yes, even more than my sedentary lifestyle and poor dietary habits. And the reason you are reading my story is because in all likelihood, you are guilty too.

So, no I won't take a gym membership in January, and I will not stock superfoods in my kitchen, what I will do is to follow tried and tested ways to cut down on my mobile phone usage. You ask how? Well, I scavenged the internet for interesting piece of advice and found some interesting and doable ways to follow it. Are you up for it?

Let's accept it, we use our phone more because it is always in our line of sight, even when we visit the loo! So despite multiple warnings about not using your phone in the washroom, we still take it with us and spend longer than we want in the cubicle because... (you know it). So the first plan is to make a place for your phone to rest, a place that doesn't come in your sight too often. In my case it will be the cabinet near my TV room. Find a place that is not in your bedroom or dining room.

What's the most addictive thing on your phone? It has to be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and of course Whatsapp. While most of us can't do without Whatsapp because it has become more like a necessity these days, both in personal and professional space, we can definitely delete other apps that occupy our mind space all the time. I have lately become an Instagram addict, so it is definitely going out of my phone.

We all know it is harmful to be on the phone before bedtime. The blue light hampers our sleep and makes us restless, but we still do it because of our FOMO (fear of missing out). We want to know which celebrity said what, wore what and went where, or we love watching videos that strike a cord and the list is endless. But the best way to avoid doing it before bedtime is to set an alarm of 9 pm when you have to put your phone on airplane mode. Share your landline number with whoever matters and you don't have to worry about missing important calls.

Whenever we go out to dine, take a look around and you will find most people glued to their phone while eating. We are guilty of it too. So the best way to get rid of this guilt is to keep a rule of no phone while eating. It may seem difficult to follow in the beginning but eventually you (we all) will get used to it.

Notifications on your phone screen lure you to pick up your phone but it can be avoided if you turn them off. It's ok to not know what someone has shared 'real time'. It also makes you anxious most of the times. Remember, there is nothing more important than your mental well being.

Most of us are constantly on the phone because our mobile data allows us to access everything every where. Lest you are using it to find your way via Google Maps, keep your mobile data off and focus on your surroundings or better, talk to people travelling with you.

Now that there is our mobile phone, we don't need a wrist watch. Sadly, it has made us so dependent that a simple eagerness to know the time makes us pick up our phone and then we don't put it down. So invest in a good watch that will cut down one dependency on the phone.