I can't remember exactly when it was, but I know it was some time in 2021. I had been struggling for a while back then. Struggling with social media, struggling with over-stimulation, and struggling with porn.
I had one of those setbacks (Relapse to Porn) where I just felt like 'enough is enough, I'm really sick of this stuff'. I went on YouTube in search of an answer to the ultimate question - 'How do I quit porn?'. I ended up watching a video by a YouTube channel named Pinnacle Of Man. I didn't resonate with everything said in the video, but there was one idea that really stood out to me... putting my phone in black and white.
In my iPhone the setting is called Greyscale and that's what I will refer to throughout the rest of this blog.
The Science Behind Colour
But, first, it's important to start with understanding how putting your phone in black and white could make a difference.
To do that, let's start with a few basics behind the science of colour. Wright suggests that 'the psychology of color works as follows: When light strikes the eye, each wavelength does so slightly differently. Red, the longest wavelength, requires the most adjustment to look at it, and therefore appears to be nearer than it is, while green requires no adjustment whatever, and is therefore restful. In the retina, these vibrations of light are converted into electrical impulses which pass to the brain— eventually to the hypothalamus, which governs the endocrine glands, which in turn produce and secrete our hormones. In simple terms, each color (wavelength) focuses on a particular part of the body, evoking a specific physiological response, which in turn produces a psychological reaction'
So essentially, our mood can be impacted by colour because different colours are received in different ways by the hypothalamus - the part of the brain that governs our body's temperature, our appetite, sexual functions, sleeping patterns, behaviours and more.
How Colour is Used in Marketing
Colour plays a major role in branding and marketing. For instance, a marketing study has found that colour can increase brand recognition by up to 80% and White found that coloured advertisements can attract people to read the advertisement up to 42% more often than the non-coloured advertisement.
One of the most obvious examples of colour being used in branding is in the fast food industry. Many fast food chains including McDonald's, KFC and Burger King use red as their main colour. Red is often associated with activity and urgency - increasing the heart rate which can help to jumpstart your appetite. Yellow is also often used by fast food chains as it contrasts well with red and is often associated with happiness.
My Experience of Turning My Phone On Greyscale for 1 year
Colour is used to stimulate people both in the physical and digital world, and often it is used to grab your attention. Turning my phone on greyscale for over a year has helped reduce how stimulating I find content on my phone. This has in turn contributed to me deleting a number of apps.
Only a few months after turning my phone onto greyscale, I deleted all of the social media apps from my phone. My screen time has dropped considerably since. Content on my phone just don't grab my attention as much as it used to, and that's a good thing. But, sometimes I do have urges to be stimulated by my phone and sometimes I want to turn the colour back on. In this respect, being on greyscale acts as a great signal to me and helps me self-regulate better.
Overall, the main benefits I've experienced have been:
It has helped me reduce my screen time
I have felt over-stimulated less often
I have gained more appreciation for colour in physical environments
I've become more aware of my urges to be stimulated by my phone
However, despite these benefits, I think there are a number of things that you can do which will have a much greater impact on your life. Meditation, journaling, exercising and really just working on your goals are all far more important things to focus on. I asked Stephen Westland (Professor of Color Science and Technology at the School of Design at the University of Leeds) if he had any thoughts on how putting your phone on greyscale could impact someone, and he made a very good point. The psychological impact, if any, is likely to be small because the focus is on 'one small area in the visual field'. So, sure colour can impact your mood, but the impact will often depend on how much of the colour can be seen in your field of view. Standing in a room that has been completely painted red is likely to have a much stronger impact than seeing a photo on your phone of someone wearing red.
Conclusion
Turning your phone on greyscale is worth it. I highly recommend it and it's a great place to start if you'd like to reduce your screen time. It's easy to implement straight away (Just Google how for your phone) and it's not hard to stick to either. However, putting your phone in black and white isn't going to help you achieve anything on it's own. Yes, it may help you get off your phone, but it's what you do with that time instead that really matters. What is most important is not that you make your screen life grey, but that you make life off your screen brighter.
References Wright, A. (1998). Beginner’s guide to color psychology. London, England: Color Affects.
(Morton J. [cited 2010 Dec 20];Why color matters. 2010 Available from: http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/why-color-matters/ [Google Scholar] [Ref list])
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