Addicted to Your Smartphone? Here's How to Break the Bad Habit
Do you know how much addicted you are to your smartphone? Just try to count how many times you look at it each day. Think about how you would feel if you had to go a whole day without your smartphone. You wouldn’t know who texted or called, you couldn’t check your email or browse the internet quickly, and you definitely would not have access to your favorite game and apps.
If leaving your phone alone for more than a few hours sounds like a horrible punishment, then you need to realize you are a little too attached to it. It is time to break the smartphone obsession – really; you will thank us for it later.
Just How Obsessed Are Some People?
Gallup conducted a poll to find out just how obsessed people were with their phones. More than half of the poll’s participants admitted to checking their phone several times an hour, if not more. Also, 81% of individuals reported that they keep their phones near them for majority of their waking hours. Sixty-three percent admitted to keeping their phones near them during their sleeping hours too. Being too connected to your smartphone comes with a price too. Not only do some relationships and careers suffer due to phone addiction, but smartphone addiction has also been connected to anxiety and stress and an increased state of distraction.
How to Break Your Addiction
Whether you want to break your smartphone addiction or your kid’s addiction, you have to do it little by little. It might seem tempting to just go cold turkey. However, a digital detox is often accompanied by then being overwhelmed when the user gets their phone back. It is the same principle of being without a signal for several hours. When you finally get your signal back, you are bombarded with emails and texts and missed calls. It is too much to handle at one time.
Instead, the better way to ease back on smartphone usage is to start off by only checking your phone once every half an hour. When that feels comfortable, go an hour between phone breaks. Gradually increase the time for what works best for you. It is important to let family members and friends know that you are only checking your phone periodically, so that they do not think you are being rude if you do not respond or answer a call right away.
Smartphones are a way of life, but that doesn’t mean they need to take over your life.
Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of K?rlis Dambr?ns
