Most apps are competing for the same limited resource: your attention. Notifications, endless feeds, and autoplay are carefully designed ways to keep you engaged. That doesn’t make your phone bad. It does mean the defaults may not match what you actually want from it.
Set the defaults yourself
Start with notifications. Keep the ones that help you respond to people or do something time-sensitive. Turn off the rest. Move the apps that pull you in off your home screen, and put the things you use with intention where you can reach them.
You can also create a little friction. Sign out of the apps you tend to open without thinking. Leave your phone in another room while you read or eat. Small barriers give you a moment to choose instead of falling into a habit.
Use the tool on your terms
Digital wellbeing isn’t about never using your phone. It’s about noticing how you feel after you use it, and making adjustments that return some of that choice to you. Technology should fit into your life. Your life doesn’t have to fit around a screen.