Oh yes I have that problem often, though what I've been doing to cure it is by using something else to distract me! I always carry a book around now and use that as a replacement for my phone and it works really well! Also, if you can't fully distract yourself from the urge to look at your phone, set aside a certain time in which you will use to use your phone, like around 30 minutes maybe? And if it helps you more, leave your phone outside your room so it is harder to reach it.

Hope this helps! :)

oh, I feel the same! My suggestion is to keep your phone in a different room or even just too far away to reach if you're at home. Then you might reach for it but it's easier to keep in check. If you're at school (idk if your school lets you have your phones out, mine does) you could keep it in a zipped backpack pocket instead of a pocket. There are also a few settings you could change: like (if you have an iPhone) there's a grayscale setting, or 'smart invert' and 'classic invert' that basically flip all the colors. Those work a little too well on me lol. You could also set screen time limits on certain apps, or block certain contacts, or remove apps from your home screen, or something. You could set your wallpaper to a reminder to not be online so much—that way even if you check your phone you might not open it. Or get a friend/sibiling/parent to keep you accountable. Hopefully something here was helpful!

ah yes, smartphones are really alluring...

Everyone who's replied has great suggestions! Mine would be to leave your phone behind whenever you go out - take along a cell phone instead so that you can still communicate with people without always being tempted to look at a screen. Or better still, just get rid of your smartphone altogether. There's hardly any benefit to smartphones that flip phones won't bring, and they have so many negative effects. Here's a thread where you can learn more about it: https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/chirpatcricket/node/548869

i definitely get that feeling sometimes, but writing's all about practice, honestly! writing is a skill just like any other talent or sport; you don't get any better without practice. if you're feeling discouraged, i like to go back and reread my old writing, and usually one of two things will happen: either i think it's bad, and i recognize how far i've come since, or i think it's pretty good, and i'm reminded that i'm actually a decent writer! 

write a ski lodge or solo write, enter poetry and writing contests, just write from your aes' (if you have any) povs on the ae diaries thread, anything! just keep writing, no matter how bad you think you are; i promise it's all helping you improve :] you don't have to share it if you don't want to, but just write, and maybe post some pieces and ask for feedback if you're comfortable :D

Aw :/ That's totally okay, though. First, it's hard to write really well when you're a kid or a teenager, because your writing style is still developing - sort of like the way it's hard for a five-year-old to write really neatly. Second, it's really hard to judge your own writing accurately. You might see all the flaws in it, but maybe someone else wouldn't.

My poetry seems pretty good to me, but looking at peppermint's or Silver Crystal's or whoever's, it just doesn't seem as good as theirs.  So comparison is something that most writers probably struggle with.

Comparison can help you get better, though - my poetry basically wouldn't exist if I hadn't come on here and discovered peppermint and pangolin and all those people. The CB was what made me discover my voice as a poet, and it was modeling myself on CBers that gave me the opportunity to do that. Other writers can serve for inspiration. Or maybe you just want to do your own thing, and that's okay too.

One way to get better at writing - in fact, the way - is to read good writing. It's much harder to write well if you're just reading commercial authors who have no idea to wield words. Your style will always be affected by the people you read, so give yourself a broad variety so that your style can develop as fully as possible and be more unique to your preferred type of writing. You might like to try Charles Dickens, Maria E. Andreu, C. S. Lewis, and Helen Cresswell, to name just a few. They're all dramatically different, but they're all skilled and engaging authors who can really paint a picture in words. Give them a try, even if you don't like their styles, and try to learn from them. If you want other recommendations, you could ask a teacher or librarian (or ask around here on the CB :D)

The most important thing to remember is that ultimately, it doesn't really matter how good your writing is. As an author, you should always write for yourself first. Just enjoy it! (Fortunately, the more you enjoy writing something, the more interesting it'll be for the reader: that's another fundamental rule of authorship :D) Write what and how you want, and have fun.

But if you want encouragement or help, just ask - and no matter what, your writing will only get better with time. Practice and experience are all it takes; you can only go upwards from here. And remember, your writing might be really good already!

Hope this helps :)

Okay @Admins. I see how it is.

I'm sorry. *virtual hugs if you want them* maybe consider talking to someone if you don't already?

i've been meaning to respond to this for a while and am sorry this is all i wrote, but *optional hugs* and i promise you're not worthless. even if you haven't "achieved anything". (and maybe there are things you just don't see, also.)

I'm sorry, I don't have any advice, but *virtual hugs* if you want them <33

I have diagnosed OCD. I'm obviously not a professional, but I agree with Admin about talking to your parents. That does sound like obsessive-compulsive tendencies (but I know I'm not qualified to really give you much advice). I hope everything works out <3

First off, I'm not a medical professional but this sounds like OCD to me, or at least what I have. For as long as I can remember, I've had that unbalanced feeling. I also feel compelled to hurt myself on the other side of my body if one side gets hurt. It makes my life much more difficult. Intrusive thoughts are a problem too, and I hate those the most. Sometimes they come true and that really scares me.

The thing about OCD, based on the reasearch that I've done, is that most people will not have all of the symptoms. I know I don't. If you don't have all of them, that doesn't automatically mean you don't have OCD. 

As for talking to your parents, I've already done this. Well, I've talked to my dad, but I don't know if he passed the info on to my mom. I'm a bit confused though, because he never brought it up since I talked to him. I have a check-up this month, and I'm planning to ask my doctor about this. I've done a lot of reasearch and I am really sure I have OCD. Finding out what OCD was, I immediately knew this was me, and I was really relieved to know I wasn't the only one dealing with this. And it makes me relieved to know that there is another CBer dealing with this! Not that I wish this on you.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should talk to a trusted adult. The hard thing about OCD is that it makes you want to do things, but deep down you know that they are wrong. Personally, what I want is a not a way to stop me from doing these things, but a way to stop the urge to do them at all. There is medicine out there that can do that. (Let me just restate that I'm not a medical professional and they know better than me what's best.) If you talk to someone, they can try to help. And I hope this helps!