Has this ever happened to any of you? You are more than halfway to wherever you are going. Traffic is heavy, and you hope to make it to your destination on time. Then it happens!! You realize…. GASP… you have forgotten your phone at home! For many of us, no matter the circumstances, we will turn around to retrieve the phone. Why is that?
Today, we are a society so accustomed to being connected that it causes a physical reaction when we cannot have our phones immediately available. What if we need to Google something? What if someone texts or e-mails or calls? Lord forbid we actually need to make a call because we do not actually know any of ou’ and family members’ phone numbers. The day will actually cease to continue if we do not have our device.
I do understand that many of us use our phones several times during the day for legitimate reasons. Could it be healthy to be that attached to an inanimate object? I will help you answer that…NO, it is not! We are addicted to our smartphones. How do we help ourselves become less attached? I have a few ideas:
Modify the way we use the phone. If you are like me, your phone is your banking system, alarm clock, food tracker, map, grocery list, and to-do list. I do appreciate my multi-purpose phone! However, if we are trying to alleviate the addiction of always having our phones in our hands, we need to modify our behavior.
- Buy an alarm clock and plug your phone in somewhere other than at the bedside at night. This will eliminate your phone being the first and last thing you see at night.
- Try to use your computer when doing things like shopping, banking, and researching. Making use of other things will make your phone seem less critical.
- Write grocery and other lists….on paper. I know, weird, huh? Again, making the phone less important.
- When you are not using the phone, plug it in an area away from you instead of having it next to you.
Let’s start now! I already hear your heart pounding with just the thought of changing these four changes. Good Luck to all of us!
Be Balanced!
