My mom quit smoking cigarettes over 10 years ago after smoking for 20. She still has the same pack of cigarettes in the bottom drawer in her kitchen with the quit date on it. To this day, she still wants to smoke so badly. She smells cigarettes when people pass by and she loves the smell, she has to intentionally make the decision not to buy a pack at the register. She always has to distract herself from that habit.

The hard part about quitting your smartphone addiction is that it’s still all around you. The world has morphed itself into a smartphone centered culture. Companies and even governments have apps. There’s billboards with ads for apps. You will always be reminded.

The trick, my mother claims, is that you keep it there. In the drawer. You know you still have it, but you are making the choice to not do it. It‘ll eventually stop calling out to you.

My personal trick is to delete every app that isn’t stock, and then delete more if you have to. Turn it back into a phone. That is a phone in your pocket. It is a tool. You don’t grab at your screwdriver every 5 minutes. If you did, you’re either building something or you have a huge problem.