Are You in a Toxic Relationship... With Your Phone?
Those little things we keep in the palm of our hands, you know those sleek devices we use to pay our bills, interact with others, answer emails and even record life’s greatest moments, can do more harm than good. With all things great, excessive usage can be damaging.
My phone reminds me of some of my exes. The emotional tug of war between embracing it or letting it go. Wanting to see it sometimes and other times wanting my distance. Adding apps then deleting them, just to add them back again. This thing keeps me up at night and is also one of the first things I see in the morning.
After a while I started to assess my relationship with my cell phone and that got me thinking, am I in a toxic relationship? Do these habits seem familiar to you? Wondering if you’re in the same boat as me? Take the quiz below to determine your relationship with your smart phone.
Photo By: PBS Media Group
Do You:
Constantly check your phone?
Obsess over social media?
Scroll before bed?
Go long periods without cleaning the screen?
Hunch over to type?
Shut out your surroundings?
Stare at your phone for hours?
Become emotional when viewing content?
Turn the brightness to the highest setting?
Turn the sound to the highest setting?
Feel physical discomfort when using it?
So, how did you do? If you answered yes to five of these questions or more, you may want to reassess your relationship with your phone. If you feel physical or emotional discomfort when using it, you may be doing more damage than you know. But why only point out a problem and not help with a solution? Below you can find some tricks I have used and some I found on WebMD to help me limit my bad phone habits.
Ways to Cut Back:
Turn off alerts.
Get an alarm clock.
Go cold turkey.
Turn it off or only allow calls from your “favorites” during work hours.
Schedule tech-free time.
You and your guests place your phones in a secure area when interacting with one another.
Get rid of time-consuming apps.
Have board games and books available at social functions.
Assign ringtones to people important to you.
I hope the information provided in this article helps you assess your relationship with your phone and refocus your energy. If you have any bad habits that go overlooked and/or any solutions please let us know in the comments, we may even repost them.
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