“The challenge of modern relationships: how to prove more interesting than the other’s smartphone.” — Alain de Botton
Let’s face it. Surfing the internet and posting on social media is a massive time suck. Technology isn’t evil, but it can be addictive. How many social media sites do you frequent? How often? When you attend an event or meet someone for dinner, do you turn your smartphone off or leave it on—just in case? How often do you check for email messages? A Techjury article “How Much Time Does the Average American Spend on Their Phone” reported that most mobile phone users check their phones up to 63 times daily.
For at least two decades, smartphones have dramatically changed the way we communicate and experience life. Instead of dancing, clapping, and fully experiencing live music as fans did while attending this 1985 Live Aid concert, today’s music fans are more likely to focus on recording the concert to upload on Instagram. Are today’s concert attendees “feeling” the music or simply recording it? What’s the sense of attending a live event if you spend most of your time clutching your smartphone?
Smartphones have blurred the line between personal use and business use. For many employees, the office is open 24 hours a day—thanks to incoming business email messages and messaging platforms such as Slack. When does the workday actually end?
Jumpstarting a Digital Detox
If you feel that you are addicted to your smartphone and believe that it is causing you to neglect personal relationships or is taking up too much of your time, you might want to keep track of how many hours per day are spent checking messages, surfing the internet or posting on social media sites. Once you have tracked and confirmed how many total hours you are spending on your smartphone, reflect on how those hours could be put to better use. It just might be time to go on smartphone diet.
Here are a few tips to help you get started.
- Consider purchasing a flip phone to use strictly for calls and texting.
- Unsubscribe from notifications to avoid having to respond to pop-up alerts.
- When you meet with friends or are dining at a restaurant or at home, turn off your smartphone. Do not place it on the table when you are dining out.
- Decrease the number of social media sites and blogs that you frequent. Fill the time that is gained with new activities, such as a hobby or working out at the local gym. You could commit to volunteer work or enroll in music lessons instead of spending hours posting photographs and messages on Facebook.
- Create a set time for turning off your smartphone during the week so you aren’t tempted to continue working on work-related tasks or get lured into responding to “one last email message.”
Finally, you might want to reflect on these questions: Do you own your smartphone or does it “own” you? Is it time to outsmart your smartphone and reclaim your time?