How to make time for yourself.
You technically have free time. But your phone fills every gap — the morning before work, the lunch break, the evening on the couch, the minutes before sleep. Here is how to take some of that time back.
Your phone is stealing your quiet
Solitude used to happen naturally. Waiting for a bus. Sitting in a cafe. Walking to the store. These moments of nothing were where ideas formed, problems untangled, and rest actually happened.
Now every gap gets filled. The phone comes out at the first sign of boredom, the first lull, the first quiet moment. And what fills it — social media, news, video — is not rest. It is consumption. You end a scrolling session more tired than when you started.
Research from the University of Exeter found that spending about 120 minutes per week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. But the insight behind that finding is broader: time spent without stimulation — in nature, in silence, in genuine rest — has value that scrolling does not.
The difference between alone time and phone time
Being alone with your phone is not the same as being alone with yourself. Phone time is stimulus. Self time is space. One fills you with other people's content. The other lets your own thoughts surface.
If every quiet moment gets replaced by a feed, you lose the ability to sit with your own mind. This is not mystical. It is practical: people who maintain some device-free solitude report better mood, clearer thinking, and less anxiety.
How to reclaim time for yourself
1. Protect one daily window
Pick one part of your day — the first 30 minutes in the morning, your lunch break, the hour before bed — and make it phone-free. Not phone-on-silent. Phone-in-another-room or apps-blocked. Use that time for whatever you want. Read. Walk. Sit. Think. Nothing is fine too.
2. Block the filler apps
You probably have 3-5 apps that account for most of your mindless scrolling. Block them for a set time and see what happens. A 2023 PNAS study found that even a small barrier before opening an app reduces openings by 57%. Remove the filler and space appears.
3. Go outside without your phone
A 20-minute walk without a phone is a different experience than a 20-minute walk with one. Without the phone, you notice more. You think more clearly. You return feeling rested instead of drained. Try it once and see.
4. Let yourself be bored
Boredom is not a problem to solve. It is a signal that your mind is ready for something else — a thought, a plan, a memory, a creative idea. If you fill every bored moment with a scroll, you never hear what your mind was trying to say.
How Life Over Screen helps
Life Over Screen blocks distracting apps for a set time. You choose "Me" as who this moment is for, pick a duration, and start. When the session ends, you see how much time you protected for yourself.
It is not a meditation app. It is not a self-care tracker. It is a way to create a gap in the noise and let something else fill it.
€4.99 one-time. No subscription. No account.
Frequently asked questions
Is alone time without a phone really better?
Research suggests yes. Device-free solitude is associated with better mood, clearer thinking, and reduced anxiety. Time on your phone — even alone — is stimulus, not rest.
How much time for yourself do you need?
There is no universal number. Even 20-30 minutes of genuine, phone-free solitude per day makes a noticeable difference. Start small and see how it feels.
What should I do during phone-free time?
Whatever you want. Read, walk, sit, think, cook, sketch, garden, stare out the window. The point is not to be productive. The point is to be present with yourself.