Ezuka SharonIn the words of Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist and addiction specialist at Stanford, “Just about all of us have a digital drug of choice, and it probably involves using a smartphone— the equivalent of the hypodermic needle for a wired generation.”
Anna Lembke is right; we all are addicted to a digital drug of choice in one form or the other. For example, the average smartphone user rarely goes two hours without using her device, unlocks her device 50 or more times a day, and swipes or taps on it as many as 2,617 times in the process.
According to research conducted in 2018 by the Pew Research Center, 44 per cent of teens often check their devices for messages or notifications as soon as they wake up, 54 per cent said they spend too much time on their mobile phones, and 42 per cent feel anxiety when they do not have their mobile phones.
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This is a huge societal problem and the solution remains elusive. Some people think that enforcing a tax on digital use would help curb this fast-growing menace. Others say the only way to beat an addiction is to quit cold turkey and go device-free.
Whatever the case, it is almost impossible to live a smartphone-free lifestyle. We live in the digital age of mobile banking, remote work, social media, and content creation. Adopting a smartphone-free lifestyle is impractical and borderline impossible.
We can however enforce restrictive measures on ourselves. We can do this by consciously developing habits to reduce how often we are on our mobile phones. For those genuinely trying to cut down on mobile phone usage, here are four practices you might find effective.
Imagine smartphones don’t exist
I know this sounds like a joke, but once upon a time there were no phones and human beings survived and thrived. how can you do this? this can be achieved by cutting down on your screen time, turning off your notifications, putting your phone on aeroplane mode, and turning on the do not disturb feature for some time during the day. Doing this would allow you to spend time with yourself and engage in other activities you love.
You can get yourself busy with activities like reading a book, going to the gym, meditating, or spending time with loved ones.
Phone Addiction!
Physically separate yourself (Phone Addiction)
One of the best ways to reduce mobile phone usage is to physically separate yourself from your phone.
According to Christopher Mims, a technology writer for the wall street journal, “The more you physically remove the phone, the more you can build a habit of having some ability to ignore it when it’s on your person.”
My advice to you would be to put your phone away after a day’s work. Do not go to bed with your phone next to you. An example of this would be to keep your phone in the sitting room while you go to bed. That way, checking your phone wouldn’t be the last thing before you go to bed and the first thing you do when you wake up.
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Set aside one day of the week (Phone Addiction)
One of the most common approaches that you can take to reduce mobile usage would be to pick a day of the week (preferably the weekend) and avoid using your phone. This takes a lot of self-control but is not impossible. Doing this would greatly improve your mental health by reducing the anxiety and pressure that comes from using your mobile phone all the time.
Phone Addiction!
Lock away distracting apps
For many of us, we find it very hard to stay away from some apps on our mobile phones. particularly the likes of Instagram and Twitter. Locking away or uninstalling these apps for a particular period would reduce the temptation of being on your mobile phone all the time and help us be more productive in other areas of our lives.
However, this can prove to be somewhat difficult as a lot of people make their livelihoods through social media. for this to work, you would have to organize your work properly in such a way that putting off these apps won’t affect your income.
As the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus taught in his Discourses, “No man is free who is not master of himself.” Addiction is a disease that robs you of yourself. Take out time to try out any of these four practices. Make it a habit to take a break from your mobile phones so you can truly live.
Phone Addiction!
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