The Invisible Drain: How Our Phones Are Stealing Our Peace (and What We Can Do About It)

How many times have you picked up your phone today? Ten times? 20? 30? Keep going...

According to a Reviews.org survey cited by Fast Company, the average American checks their phone 144 times a day and spends over four hours staring at its screen. Even more alarming? 57% consider themselves addicted.

For women balancing careers, caregiving, community involvement, and self-care, this isn’t just a distraction - it’s a full-blown drain on our time, focus, and mental well-being.

The Fast Company article offers seven simple strategies to make your phone less enticing. I want to highlight a few that I believe can make a real difference for women who are trying to find space to breathe in the middle of busy, demanding lives.

One suggestion is to turn your phone gray (in your settings under Wallpaper). Removing color from your screen helps reduce the dopamine-triggering visuals that keep us endlessly scrolling. Think about how much calmer your phone might feel if it looked less like a slot machine and more like a tool.

Another recommendation is to create speed bumps. This can mean setting app timers, moving frequently used apps off your home screen, or turning off notifications entirely. These tiny barriers can interrupt the habit of checking your phone every few minutes. At Brave Women Project, we often talk about making conscious choices. This is one of them.

The constant pull of our phones impacts more than just our productivity. It chips away at our ability to be fully present. It creates anxiety, interrupts our sleep, and makes it harder to focus. Most importantly, it takes us away from the real-life moments that actually fill us up.

What if the bravest thing you did today was to sit in silence for five minutes without your phone? What if you chose connection over consumption, presence over distraction?

Creating boundaries with our phones is one way to evolve. It is one way to reclaim our time, our energy, and our peace.

You do not have to go cold turkey. Try one shift. Turn off notifications. Delete one app. Move your charger out of the bedroom. Little changes can help you feel more in control and more connected to your actual life.

You deserve quiet. You deserve focus. And you deserve a life that isn’t constantly interrupted by a blinking screen.

Let’s take our time back. One brave choice at a time.