Siah Brawley: Getting Over My Phone Addiction

Four years ago, Siah Brawley found herself addicted to her phone. Determined to reduce her screen time, she adopted new rules–and even a new mindset–around using her phone.

In eighth grade, I was told I’d have a two-week break from school. Suddenly, I had more free time than ever before.

When my two-week break turned into two years, my phone was suddenly much more central to how I socialized and entertained myself. I spent all day either online talking to friends or doom-scrolling. Soon, hobbies were something of the past. Reading a book had nothing. on the dopamine rush of a screen.

As the years went by and I started to be aware of the blur that was my day-to-day life, I came across a YouTube video titled “How To End Your Phone Addiction.” The creator spoke about how taking in too much dopamine can affect a person’s attention span, and that stepping away from the fast-paced nature of social media helped him slow down.

Watching how detoxing from his phone helped him, made me want my hobbies back. Sometimes the hardest part of working on something is admitting that there is a problem to begin with.

Lately, I’ve been practicing delayed gratification. I’ll set my phone aside and force myself to complete assignments first. Once everything is done, I’ll reward myself with using my phone afterward. Now, I feel like I’m in a much better place with my phone and have more control over my time.

In the future, I want my relationship with my phone to be strictly practical. I plan to someday detach from social media entirely — only using my devices to keep in touch with family and friends. I’m not throwing away my smartphone just yet. But I’m gonna try to keep my usage to a minimum and switch to using a flip phone as much as possible.

The less time I spend on my phone, the more I’ve rediscovered what I enjoy doing offline. Things like writing, reading, and drawing now have just as much appeal as before. After all, the whole world isn’t in our devices.

With a Perspective, I’m Siah Brawley.

Siah Brawley is 18 years old and from Oakland. Her Perspective was produced by YR Media.