As the number of people that have cell phones is rapidly growing, so is the number of people that are becoming addicted to their phones. When these phones were invented, they were intended to make life easier. Today there are some people that do not have a life because they do not know when to turn them off.
You probably know a person who is a cell phone addict. It could be the person who leaves his phone on in the hospital even if it is against the rules because he is afraid he will miss a call. Or the phone user who sends text messages all day from work when he should be doing his job. These same people will have an anxiety attack if they forgot their phones at home and cannot enjoy what they are doing until that phone is back in their hand.
Unfortunately, cell phone addiction may become more widespread as greater numbers of children are using cell phones. One study showed that Japanese children didn't make friends with peers who didn't have the phones. Another showed that three quarters of Hungarian children owned cell phones. A study in Italy showed that one quarter of the adolescents had multiple cell phones while in Great Britain 36% of college students surveyed admitted that they could not live without their cell phones. An unexpected result form the British study was that 7% of the students stated that they had lost a job or a relationship over their cell phone use.
There are questions as to whether cell phone addictions are actual addictions, such as an addiction to drugs would be. There are some similarities. Cell phone addicts use their phone to make them feel better. These users even seem to increase their phone use over time to get the same feeling that they had when they first began using them. There are also some anxiety issues when the user does not have his phone available. With regular addictions, there are usually some changes to the brain, from alcohol addiction to food addiction. There may have to be a study done on the brain of a cell phone addict for this trend to be considered an actual addiction.
Until then, you may have to look for the signs yourself if you are worried about a loved one being a cell phone addict. Again, the signs of an addict are someone that can not stay off his cell phone for any length of time. The person may become irritated if someone does not answer his voicemail or text message quick enough. He refuses to turn his phone off, even in areas where cell phone usage is restricted. If he has forgotten his phone at home, he can think of nothing else until he can get home to get it.
If this sounds like one of your children, there is something that you can do. If you have a premium cell phone plan, you can drop it back to the basics and limit the amount of time the child can spend on the phone. The youngster may not like it but will become adjusted to less cell phone usage as time goes by.
Cell phones do make life easier, but you should not lose sight of the fact that there is a life without them.
Here are five tips to manage your phone addiction.
1. The first 30 minutes of your day
If you find yourself waking up in the morning reaching to check in with your phone before you even got out of bed, this is a serious problem. The first 30 minutes upon awakening should be dedicated to creating a good start to your day. This means getting out of bed, freshening up, taking 5 minutes to meditate and stretch and preparing a healthy breakfast. Start your day doing healthy, positive things to build your inner fortitude to take on the day ahead.
2. Create No-Phone Time Zones
The truth of the matter is having a cell phone close by at work is common, and sometimes even required. Whether the ding of your phone is work-related or not—that specific phone alert is rarely related to the current work at hand. If you are constantly getting distracted by your phone going off—you won’t remain focused on the work in front of you, decreasing productivity. Therefore, I advocate for creating a no-phone time-zone. This means that for at least 2 hours of your day(when you’re most productive work happens) you close off your phone and stay completely dedicated to the work in front of you.
3. Turn your Phone Off When You Get Into The Car
This should be a law. I’m waiting for the day that it is. Just as in an aircraft you are asked to power off your electronic devices and cell phones, this should be the law of the road. It is impossible for your mind to be at two places at once. It is a law of physics: no one thing can occupy the same space at the same time, and if your mind and eyes are on your phone, they are not on the road. Driving is one of those places where you do not want to mess around. Sometimes I hear the excuse “Well, I need my phone for directions, my GPS is on it.” To that I say: what did people do five years ago? You would carefully map out your route before you left the house, or you would pull off to the side of the road as you looked at a map. The same rule should apply today. When driving—close off your phone so that you are not even tempted to look at it. Your life and other people’s lives are at stake.
4. Get Real
When you are with a real life person sharing a conversation, a meal, or a cup of coffee, they are a real life form. A real person right there in front of you to engage with. Are you telling me that your virtual friends and virtual text conversations are more important than the real life person in front of you? Not only is this THE rudest thing on the planet, but it breaks down friendships and can ruin relationships. Even if you say to a friend “Oh I just need to check that,” They may respond “Oh, that’s OK.”But the truth is it’s not OK. What you are saying is that the virtual message is more important than them. They have taken time out of their busy life to meet with you, and share real life time with you. By turning your attention away from them you are inevitably saying “You are not as important.” It’s really a sickness that we are so addicted to our phones that we ignore the people we are with to hang out with virtual people over Facebook, Twitter, and text messages. Come on people—it’s time to get real.
5. Don’t Lose Sleep Over It
If you find yourself up late at night playing on your phone, whether it is video games, Facebook, or text messaging, you are losing precious sleep over your addiction. The moment you stop putting energy into caring for your basic needs and pour your time and energy into your phone, you are allowing the phone to dictate your health and well-being. If you catch yourself in this scenario, my advice is to power off your phone an hour before bed time to ensure that your last hour is spent in a meaningful way, and that you get to bed on time to start the next day afresh. Your phone is just not worth losing sleep over.
Now it’s your turn. Do you find yourself in one of these scenarios? What’s your plan of action to ensure that your phone isn’t dictating your life? Please share in the comments below, and let’s inspire each other to live healthier, happier, more meaningful lives by not caving into a phone addiction.
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