I consume less than an hour of digital media a day. 'Cheat days' never helped me cut screen time, but 'NPC hours' did.

In my quest to cut down on screen time, I've had a few key takeaways and breakthroughs.

Miljan Živković/Getty Images

It feels like everyone wants to scroll less, and every influencer has a bag of tricks to "make it easy." If I have one trick to offer, it's to stop relying on tricks and thinking that this should be easy at all.Nearly a decade of struggling to curb my digital addiction has taught me that real transformation requires a substantial lifestyle change.After years of trial and error, I've managed to cut my own digital-media use to less than an hour a day for more than six months.For me, digital media means internet-based content I consume for leisure: audio and video streaming, social media, articles, ebooks, podcasts, and even casual browsing. I don't count work-related tasks or practical errands. The key distinction is whether something is potentially addictive, offering the kind of endless, low-friction stimulation that can keep me coming back.The less digital media I consume, the more I feel able to live by my true values. And, in my quest to cut down on screen time, I've had a few key takeaways and breakthroughs.Withdrawal was a lot worse than I expected

Sometimes, using a film camera helped me avoid using my phone.