If you are like me and find yourself glued to your phone like it’s a third hand, scrolling through Instagram and TikTok for hours on end or waiting for that next buzz to light up your screen, you may want to cut back your screen time.
But how? We’ve tried everything from muting notifications to setting time limits on certain apps or pulling the ultimate power move and deleting them altogether!
But wait, hold the phone (pun absolutely intended), there’s one simple trick that could be the answer to seeing your weekly screen time report finally go down.
Greyscale mode.
The greyscale mode sets your ENTIRE iPhone screen to black and white, removing the bright-coloured apps, notifications and widgets that constantly pull you in.
So by removing all colour from your phone, it instantly makes it far less appealing to look at, and if you don't believe me, see for yourself.
Thomas Z. Ramsoy said in the New York Times that digital content uses colours to grab consumers and draw their attention without freaking them out.
"Colour and shape, these are the icebreakers when it comes to grabbing people's attention," he said.
Ramsoy also believes greyscale reintroduces free choice, explaining that colours are used to encourage subconscious decisions but making the phone grey removes that manipulation.
For those who own an iPhone, the process is as simple as opening the Setting app, scroll down to Accessibility (or use the search bar in the Setting app), select Display & Text Size in the Vision section and finally go to Colour Filters and select Greyscale.
BOOM! Your phone is now almost as boring as your ex… Soz not soz.
Android users don't get FOMO, you can join the colourless life too.
While there is no option to change your phone display to greyscale in the quick setting menu, you can still utilise this effect to your advantage.
Head into the Settings app and tap Digital Wellbeing & Parental controls. Select Bedtime mode and turn it on. Click Customise, select Screen options at bedtime and turn on Greyscale.
So, next time you wanna spend five hours diving down a TikTok rabbit hole, this trick might mean you’ll start seeing that weekly screen time percentage drop it like it’s hot!
