Take Control of the Addiction, Before it Takes Control of You (and Your Children)!

https://useboomerang.com/2018/01/02/prevent-technology-addiction/

How Can You Combat Technology Addiction

If you find yourself craving the hit of dopamine you get from these apps and social media platforms, or if your children are displaying signs of technology addiction, it may be time to take some drastic measures to prevent it from affecting other areas of your family’s life.

• Give yourself or your children time limits – Don’t just install software like Boomerang on your children’s devices, it can help break addiction in your own technology use. If you only give yourself a certain amount of time for specific applications that keep drawing you in, you can help break yourself from the addiction.

• Turn off notifications – If you know that notifications are irresistible to you or your children, turn off the notifications. You can usually do this inside the application itself, but if those options are limited you can disable the app from sending notifications in the settings of the phone itself.

• Don’t allow streaks – When your child is getting a little obsessive about keeping their streaks alive, give them a rule that says they can’t have streaks above a certain number like 10. Each time they hit that number they will have to go back to zero. This will prevent them from getting addicted to keeping those streaks alive.

• Use other rewards – Since what you are really craving is the dopamine hit in your brain, find other ways to reward your good behavior. Download an app that will give you a reward for NOT picking up your phone for extended periods of time. Use a habit tracker to give you streaks for NOT looking at Instagram during the day. Use a sticker chart to help your child curb a technology addiction. There are many different rewards you can come up with that will help you break these habits.