Beware the smart phone. It can take over your life, if you let it.
Remember the rush when you got your first smart phone? Suddenly you were totally connected by phone, email, and texting through one handy tool. The internet was at your fingertips and thousands of apps were there for the downloading – brilliant!
Do you still feel the same way, or is the slow realization of how dependent we can become and what a grasp this technology has over us, starting to creep in?
Let’s be really clear – smart phones are a wonderful thing.
What’s not so smart is letting them constantly invade our personal time and space. They are meant to be a tool to make our lives easier, not to become our master.
How to diagnose this condition:
- You feel distracted driving laws apply to the other guy, not you.
- You instantly jump to respond to every ping, warble and ringtone (even when it’s coming from someone else’s phone)
- You demonstrate your fabulous multi-tasking skills to someone interviewing you by telling them to go on, while you respond to a text…
- You’ve become a people collector and have hundreds of friends you’ve never met and probably never will
- You can’t remember the last time you had a conversation with someone in person (that didn’t involve a mirror)
- Your heart races and you feel a panic attack coming on when you forget your phone (even when you’re only walking the dog around the block)
- Your thumbs and index fingers are morphing into long, tapered instruments topped by thick calluses
- You just downloaded an app for people who have too many apps
- You have a closer relationship with your phone than with your spouse
- You say goodnight to your phone as you tuck it into its recharging caddy, and whisper, “Sweet dreams”
An emotional attachment to a handheld device is not healthy, yet many of us can’t imagine life without one. An obsession with this technology is considered by some to be an emerging addiction problem. And like most people suffering from an addiction, the addict rarely views themselves as having an issue. Is there any hope? Absolutely.
Here are our suggestions to get your cell phone back where it belongs – as a tool, not a master:
- Turn your device OFF (not just on vibrate) whenever you’re out for dinner, in a meeting or eating with others. It’s just plain rude to interrupt someone speaking so you can take a call or respond to a text. The human being in front of you should be your focus and sending them a message that they are not as important as an incoming electronic communication, reflects poorly on you.
- Over the next few days, listen to others using their phones in public places. It’s amazing the amount of (very) personal information, private opinions, confidential business matters and viewpoints you’ll hear. All just a few inches from your ear if you’re sitting on a bus, standing in line or in a restaurant. Then consider the likelihood this could be exactly what you do.
- Wean yourself off the urge to instantly respond. There are only self-imposed rules saying you need to reply to every email, text or call within 3.5 milliseconds. Gradually increase the amount of time before you respond. You’ll feel more in control of your day.
- Turn OFF your business cell when you get home for the day. Don’t read emails or return calls until the next day. When you’re in the habit of being available 24/7, you don’t give yourself time to recharge. And let’s face it – you never do get ahead by dealing with work at home – because there is a never-ending supply of it.
- Have a cell-free day every so often. Imagine what life was like before cell phones were invented and pretend you live back then. (Yes, Virginia, there was a time when this was a reality.) Only talk to people in person or if it’s something important, use a land line to call. Reminisce what it was like before the word text became a verb. Were you more relaxed? Less anxious?