How many hours per day do you spend on your cell phone? One? Two? Five? Adam Alter, the author of Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked, has studied the outsized influence that cell phone addictions have had on us, and offers some basic steps to counteract excessive phone use. An associate professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, his research focuses on judgment, decision-making, and social psychology.

Related: 3 Days. No Phone. Can You Complete This Life-Cleansing Challenge?

On this episode of the Spartan Up! podcast, Alter and Spartan founder and CEO Joe De Sena hash out some simple steps to get your relationship with technology back to where it should be. Here are a few of Alter's main suggestions for decreasing cell phone use and counteracting phone addiction in general.

How Do I Cure My Phone Addiction?

1. Aim to have your cell phone phone out of reach for four hours per day.

2. Spend the first and last hours of your day away from your cell phone.

3. Don't look at your cell phone during dinner, even if you're alone.

“It's almost like a gateway," Alter says. "Once you're on your phone, it's really hard to stop. It's kind of binary: Either you don't use a cell phone, or you use it far more than you would like."

Listen to the podcast in its entirety below.

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