Phone-Life Balance

Technology has made our lives easier, and one of the best inventions of technology has been the cellular phone. It is an indispensable part of our life now. They entertain you, connects you, informs you and aids in exploring your passions. Smartphones are our daily bread now!

Phones should help make your lives easier and not become the center of your life. A recent research found out that for smartphone users a majority of their problematic behaviors are responses that are mindless and for some, it is a bad habit that they need to overcome. Environmental control, behavioral nudges and mindfulness help in breaking this habit.

Important Findings of the Study were:

Importance of Phone: One-third of the participants give priority to their phones rather than the people they care about and wish to spend time with.

Factors of Generation: More intense issues were among the young people. Gen Z described their best friend to be their smartphone.

People seek Help: Participants want someone to help them with Phone-life balance. More than 60 percent of the respondents want to get the maximum out of their phone time and also from their life out of the phone.

They want to separate: Majority participants said it is necessary to have a separate life from phones.
Problematic areas in which smartphone impact our life and connection to others. Younger generations are more likely to fall into the trap of these behaviors.

Checking compulsively: People say they feel compelled to check their phones constantly and they do not want to do this.

High phone time: People spend a lot of their quality time checking phones and would be more happy lessening that.
Dependent on phone emotionally: People depend on their phones for a lot more than they should and panic when they are not using the phone. They are always thinking about the phone even when not using it.

What to do?

Stop answering all calls: Do not reach for the phone whenever it rings. Go back to the good old behaviors; use an alarm clock instead of using the alarm on your phone. This will prevent you from checking the notifications before going to bed.

Select your notifications and alerts: You do not need notifications for all the Instagram posts and alerts for the latest online festival on the shopping app.

Use a phone tracking app: Use your phone to control your cravings. Try to understand your emotional triggers for using the phone. Use the notification blocker, screen dimming tools; compete in your circle of close people to discourage phone usage.

The greatest problem with all kind of addiction is to lose control. If all the above measures do not give the desired outcome, meet a therapist to get the phone-life balance back.