Smartphones have become our forever companions these days. More so because everything that needs to be done can be done with so much ease on a smartphone. From ordering food to shopping, almost all of our daily needs are now at our fingertips.
This increased dependence is leading to smartphone addiction among people of all ages, from 7 to 70! And while it might seem harmless, it does have its obvious downsides. Prolonged smartphone usage can damage your eyes, make you sluggish, and even meddle with your sleep schedule.
Research has shown that not addressing smartphone overuse can have lasting adverse effects like:
• Reduction of quality conversations
• Decreasing short-term memory and ability to problem-solve
• Erratic sleep patterns
• Negativity, distress, and slow emotional recovery among children
• Increased obesity
• Correlated to depression
To protect you from all that, we bring you a list of five constructive habits that will help curb your smartphone addiction.
1. Set aside your phone once a week
The average person touches their phone over 2500 times per day. This could take up almost 3 hours of their time that they can use to do something more productive. However, smartphone addiction is harder to control than it appears.
If you want to check your smartphone usage, set aside the phone once every week with minimum and emergency usage only. This will allow you to understand how dependent you are on your smartphone and control your habit accordingly.
2. Go for a reset
For those who realize that their phone addiction has probably crossed acceptable thresholds, going for a smartphone cleanse is a great idea. Get yourself a simple feature phone and move your contacts to this more straightforward machine.
With time, your system will adjust to the new cleanse, and your smartphone addiction will be a lot easier to control if you can pass a week or more with this phone.
3. Use screen monitoring apps
Just like some apps get you hooked to smartphones, other apps can help you deal with it. Apps like SPACE help you deal with the situation by analyzing your phone usage and finding out what kind of a phone user you are.
This will help you become more aware of using your smartphone and what you can do to break the mold.
4. Meditate
From smartphone addiction to anxiety and stress, meditation has a remedy for it all. Meditating helps you focus on the present and nurture a more aware state of mind that is independent and far away from dependencies.
It also helps you clear your head and addresses any fear of missing out that keeps you hooked to addictive social media websites. You can download apps like Headspace to use guided meditation and pick up the habit if you are new to meditation.
5. Pick up a new hobby
Picking up a new creative hobby can help you stay motivated towards things other than your phone. You could try learning a new instrument, journaling, or going back to the drawing board with your painting kit.
These habits will not only curb your smartphone addiction but also help your brain to form new neural links and increase productivity over time.
It’s time you take charge of your mind and try getting rid of the smartphone addiction by following the tips listed above.