Hey Friend- I’m glad you’re picking up your phone today to listen to this episode…and that you haven’t thrown it out the window…yet. Not all is lost when it comes to your phone-time. Have you been thinking twice about whose kingdom you’re building with your phone-time and what voice is shaping you?
I trust it’s God’s…and that you’re intentionally using your phone less and less to dwell on the things of this world..and more and more to dwell on and love Him and others more and more.
I just gotta say, this REDEEM Her Phone-Time Challenge is really changing things inside our community …and inside me! You should come join us too. Not only are we hearing great things about how to not reach for our phones so much here on the podcast, we’re talking about how we’re implementing it in our lives over in the community. We’re about taking action when God says go, you too?
And you know what else is making waves…the 1 Hour SCHEDULE SHAPING STRATEGY SESSIONS! Women in all seasons of life- from those raising littles at home to those enjoying retirement on the beach- have found that by tracking where their time is actually going, reflecting on what they notice and what they want and then working together to create their personalized ideal weekly plan…
They’re starting to control their time…instead of their time (and others) controlling them!
The stress of not knowing where time goes is replaced by the peace of knowing where to focus and when. That’s not just schedule-shaping, that’s life-shaping!
But there are a limited number of spots…and they’re going fast! Go grab a time for yours before they’re gone, cuz I’ve got some homework for you to do.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed the theme, but over the last few Timely Tip Tuesdays, we’ve focused on 5 things you can do to use your phone less…have you tried a few or all the above? On Episode 109 we talked about 5 Ways to Dumb-down your Smart-Phone. On Episode 111 we talked about 5 No-Phone Zones to pick it up less.
And today we’re gonna talk about 5 Speed Bumps you can create to make your phone less accessible…so that way you’ll not only pick up less, but also make better use of your time.
Our phones are designed to ATTRACT + ADDICT…and that’s changing faster than we can keep up. But there are things you can do to slow them down…or at least slow yourself down.
I remember driving one of my best friends to school every day in my white 1980 Plymouth Volare- complete with maroon and gray striped interior. It even had the feature of crank windows, manual locks and a front bench seat that often I had to crawl into from the passenger side cuz the driver’s side wouldn’t open, especially in the midwest winters. Let’s just say my dad wanted to pay cash for my first car and this was the best that amount of money could buy back in 1989. Thanks dad. I will say, it was better than waiting for the bus at 6:30 am cuz my highschool started at the ungodly hour of 7:10.
Maybe you have kids in highschool or you can remember back to what parking lots were like in your highschool, right? When that bell rang at 2:10, a swarm of pent-up teenagers rushed to their cars, threw them into reverse without looking and peeled out of the lot to head home…or out for a joy ride. And the mornings before school were not any better since teenagers tend to be cutting things too close…or running late.
So some parking lot designer had the brilliant idea of installing speed bumps to slow the cars down.
You remember those, right? Sometimes they were smooth and you rolled right over, other times they were abrupt and a little clunky. But either way, they did their job- to slow you down. Especially those teenage drivers!
While many of us would have preferred to go as fast as we wanted, they did help protect us from crashing, right?
I know what you’re thinking- Lissa, great childhood story and all, but what does this have to do with my phone-time? I’m so glad you asked.
With phones that go at lightning 5G speed and faster, we need something to slow us down to protect us. (a.k.a. Speed Bumps)
Even though device manufacturers are not intentionally giving us those speed bumps, you can create your own to slow down how much access you have to your phone. As always, you can do it all, or better yet, start with 1…let’s talk about each one in the order they will work best so then you can decide for yourself. You ready to jot these down?
SPEEDBUMP #1- HAIRBANDS and SCREENSAVERS. No, I have not lost my marbles, just hear me out. The first line of defense is when you look at or first pick up your phone. You know those hairbands that everyone wears around their wrists in case you have a sudden urge to put your hair up? If you’ve seen pics of my hair, you’ll know why I don’t wear any as a bracelet like my daughter with long locks does. Anyway, what if instead of cutting off the circulation in your arm, you cut off access to your phone? By putting your hairband around your phone, especially over the buttons you need to push to turn it on, you’ll be slowed down before you even try to get on. It will take moving or removing the hairband to give yourself access to logging in….giving you time to think why you even picked it up.
If you don’t have any extra hairbands laying around, or you’ve got short hair like me, download the free REDEEM Her Phone-Time Screensaver inside our community and save it as your lockscreen wallpaper. It’s a picture of a coffee cup with a bible journal and our Ephesians 5:15-16 theme verse,
“Look carefully then how you live, not as unwise, but as wise, REDEEMING the time because the days are evil.”
You know what that picture does for me everytime I pick up my phone? It causes me to think twice about what I’m about to do, why I’m doing it and how it will affect me. That’s what I call a speed bump. Click the link in the show notes to come join the community so you can download yours.
SPEEDBUMP #2 PASSCODES. Have you noticed they’re trying to make it easier for you to get on your phone lately? First it was a fingerprint, now it’s just facial recognition. One day, we’ll probably just have to speak it…or maybe they’ve already figured that out. And do you know why they find ways to make your phone faster to access? So that way you’ll go to it more often, cuz that’s where all those advertisers and app developers and influencers make their money and spread their message. For sure there’s an agenda….and you just thought they were thinking of you when your hands were sticky! Ha. Not quite. They’re thinking about their bottom dollar.
But guess what, just cuz it’s an option does not mean you have to use it. I still have to type in a good old fashioned 6-digit passcode to unlock my phone…and you can too. Now, if you already set something else up like facial recognition, I’m sure you can google how to go back to old school. Why? Cuz it slows you down and makes you think twice about what you’re doing and why.
And since this is kinda related, what about having the convenience of checking your phone on your wrist? I call that a Go-go Gadget watch. Remember that futuristic spy device Gadget wore on that cartoon? Now it’s a real thing. Wasn’t that nice of them to make it so convenient for you? Agenda- ahem.
A few years ago I needed a new watch and really intentionally thought through the implications of having my phone on my wrist all day long- no judgment towards any of you who are wearing one, but as for me, I didn’t want to be alerted all day long…plus I didn’t trust the long term effects of direct cell-phone waves going into my body all the time. But a few years later we did get one for our daughter who was running alone sometimes at cross country practice and needed a way to communicate in an emergency.
Again, no shame if you invested in a smart watch, but can I ask you, how does it feel to have something interrupting you all through your day? I know it would completely distract me and get me off track from what I said mattered in the moment…and I’m pretty sure it would stress me out if I opened something and didn’t have time to respond and then couldn’t mark it as unread and then forgot to go back to it later. They’re just not for me. But if you love yours, I’m sure there’s a way to make it beep and startle you less, so go check google on that too if you want it to be more like those things we used to all wear on our wrist back in the day that just told you the time with 2 hands…ah, life was so much simpler then.
SPEEDBUMP #3 SIDESCREENS and FOLDERS. A few episodes ago, we talked about cleaning out (not just rearranging) your home page and I mentioned this technique…if you for whatever reason just gotta keep it, you can make the app less accessible in 2 ways- by moving them to other screens or by putting them in folders. Just cuz you have an app, does not mean it has to live on your homepage where you see it all the time. Swipe right and you have a few other pages where you can move apps you don’t want to be tempted by, but you’re not willing to get rid of. Here’s where you can use the rule we talked about to keep only the tools and remove the entertainment on Episode 109.
Before we go any further, stop and look at your homescreen, what do you not NEED access to on a regular basis? Hold down and drag it right.
And there’s another way to build in an extra layer of inaccessibility to slow you down- creating folders. Instead of seeing the pretty pictures of all your social media apps that only entice and tempt you to click on them, drag them on top of one another and your phone will intuitively create a folder called social. Now you have to click the folder then the app if you really wanna get in. See how it’s a speedbump that slows you down? Not entirely, but it does make you think cuz it’s an extra step.
And true story…my hubby grabbed my phone one day and dragged a few apps into a folder he named Useless. Needless to say, I don’t think I’ve ever even opened an app inside that folder, so I can probably remove them…unless they’re the preloaded ones you have to be a programmer to delete.
What apps can you put into a folder right now to clear what you see on your phone?
Mind you- this is not intended to make space so you can fill your phone with even more, but to cause you to access it even less.
SPEED BUMP #4 FOCUS MODE and RESTRICTIONS. If you’ve gotten past the screensaver (or hairband), the passcode, the sidescreens and the folders, there is something actually built into your phone that can help you restrict your phone usage- it’s called FOCUS MODE. Thank you phone developers- finally. I’m sure someone had to lobby or complain an awful lot about what phones are doing to people for that to be included.
I’m curious, have you used it? I’m not sure about androids, but for my iPhone friends out there, here’s what you can do…you can set a schedule for DO NOT DISTURB that only lets numbers you allow to get through. You can even set it to turn on at a specific location or while using a certain app. That’s cool. And under Do Not Disturb, you’ll also find Focus Filters that help you remove distractions from apps and your device when Focus is on. That’s helpful. Next you can set your SLEEP FOCUS which alerts you 45 min ahead that it’s time to wind down (aka get off your phone) and keeps your phone quiet so as not to interrupt your beauty sleep. Hallelujah. If only I could get my hubby to use that so his friend’s late night tests don’t keep ringing!
But wait..there’s more…
You can even set a PERSONAL FOCUS for when you’re spending time with family or taking time for yourself, so you can be fully present by silencing notifications or customizing your screens and apps. Too bad we need a reminder to put our phones down when we’re with those we love or even ourselves, but glad to have it. And finally, there’s WORK FOCUS for when you’re working on a project or your to-do list so you can get things done by silencing notifications or customizing your screens and apps. That’s smart.
And get this- you can share your FOCUS MODE across all your devices.
And if that’s not enough, there are plenty of RESTRICTION APPS to limit your screen-time for iPhones like Net Nanny, Family Time and Dinner Mode or for Androids try FamiSafe, unGlue or Kidslox.
The moral of the story is: there’s no excuse to be spending too much time on your phone..cuz there are PLENTY of ways to control it.
But the best way to slow yourself down that I intentionally left for last cuz it trumps all the others is…drum roll please…
SPEEDBUMP #5 A PERSONAL PHONE-TIME PLAN. Yep, just decide ahead of time what you will and won’t do. When you will and when you won’t and how long you will or won’t stay on. It’s not really that hard, so why do we let everyone else decide for us?
In fact, I’m gonna make it super easy for you to create your own personal phone-time plan. Join the REDEEM Her Phone-Time Challenge inside the REDEEM Her Time Community. I even walked you through the free guide in Episode 108 when we talked about the 4 steps to create a phone-time plan so you’re not trying to live off good intentions…and failing! I’m serious- how many times have you said you’re gonna do better but revert right back to your old habits, or worse?! And that pattern has a ripple effect on all 8 key areas of attention in your life- your faith-walk, family and friend relationships, work and service, stewardship, mental and physical wellness, personal passions and your dwelling.
You need a pattern interrupt. That’s how you break a habit.
So whether that’s by having a hairband or screensaver, a passcode, side screens and folders or better yet a personal phone-time plan, promise me you’ll do something.
And guess what, you don’t have to do it alone. I know it’s hard when your default is to reach for your phone and you don’t even realize it. That’s why we’re doing it together, cuz like I always say-
If you could have done it alone, you would have done it already, right?
Right. Then I guess I’ll see you inside the community. Before you put your phone down, be sure to go visit redeemhertime.com and join us.
Speaking of not doing it alone- I know God will give you what you need to do what He is calling you to do. In fact, the time you save, just may give you the time you need to follow His lead to where He’s calling you to be and do in this season.
Dear Lord-
Thank you that you care about us- even our struggles with our phones. We know that this is nothing new to you- women for ages have been tempted by the things around them to direct their attention to what does not compare with you in an attempt to fill a void that only You can fill. Remind us that You are greater than anything our phones promise. Remind us that You are always waiting to spend time with us and are never too busy. Remind us that this world and the things of it will not last, only You, Your Word and Your people will matter one day. And so while we live in this distracting world, cause our eyes and hearts to turn to You…even more than to our phones. Thank you that you give us the grace to be made new by renewing our mind and changing our attitude and actions. We want to glorify you in all we do- even with our phones. And we need Your help to do that. Thank you for hearing us. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.
Amen. Do you agree? Let’s do this. Promise me that when this episode is over you’ll first share it with a friend, then go do something to love God or love others more.
Thanks for joining me for this episode and until next time, remember…
You DO have ALL the time you need to do ALL He has called you to.
Be available to who + what matters most in this season and in light of eternity…
Cuz you are here for Such a Time as This.
Binge the REDEEM Her Phone-Time Challenge Series
Ep 105 No Time? The #1 Tip to Find 1-4 Hours in your Day for Better Time Management
Ep 106 Distracted by Your Phone? 2 Key Steps for Christian Women to Overcome Digital Distraction
Ep 107 Wish You Could Break-up with Your Phone? 3 Steps to Start Setting Healthy Screen-Time Boundaries
Ep 108 Don’t Live on Good Intentions. 4 Steps to Create a Personalized Phone-Time Plan to Prioritize What Matters
Ep 109 Wish your Phone wasn’t so Distracting? 5 Tips to Dumb-down your Smartphone to get more Time in your Day
Ep 110 3 Steps to Build the Kingdom of God with your Phone-Time as a Busy Christian Woman
Ep 111 Put it down. 5 NO Phone Zones for Better Time Management
Ep 112 Is your Phone Shaping You? 3 Questions to Ask to Be Transformed by God Instead
Visit the REDEEM Her Time Website https://redeemhertime.com
> Join the REDEEM Her Time Community (did I mention it’s FREE?!)
> Get the REDEEM Her Phone-Time Guide + Screensaver
> Schedule a free 15 Min Strategy Session
>>> or DO ALL-THE-ABOVE!
P.S. And don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts to get your name in the drawing for $100 OFF the REDEEM Her Time Coaching Program…coming soon!
