Disconnected Addiction, Are You One of Them?

Are YOU Addicted? Are you one of them? Someone who is constantly checking their phone and social media accounts, games, notifications, or other apps?

According to a recent Reviews.org report, by Alex Karai, about 57% of Americans admit that they are addicted to their cell phone. That equates to approximately 182,567,919 Americans addicted to their cell phones, that is no small number.

Have you thought about your relationship with your cell phone?

• How much time do you spend on your phone each day?
• Do you check it as soon as you get up in the morning?
• Do you use your phone in the bathroom?
• Do you sleep next to your phone?

There really is a relationship we have with our phones. Who or what else do we spend so much time with, longingly gazing at, hanging on every notification, image, or call? I bet your partner would love that much attention.

How do you and your phone stack up to the recent report?

Do you think you need to break up with your phone? Reviews.org shares that:

• Americans spend 4 hours, 25 minutes each day on their cell phones.
• 89% say they check their phone within the first 10 minutes of waking up.
• 75% use their phone ON the TOILET.
• 60% sleep with their phone at night.

One way to combat these habits is actually available on some cell phones.

On iPhones, under Settings, there is a Screen Time Tab. With this tab you can track how much time you really spend on your phone, set app limits, schedule downtime and more.

Another tip is to turn off your non-human notifications. These pop up notifications can distract us all day on our phones, because when it chimes, it is hard not to check and see why.

If your phone doesn’t have a screen time feature, there are apps that you can download to help you better manage your phone and get your time back. Americans check their phones 144 times per day, think about how often you check your phone.

I  am guilty of this too, I went to my screen time usage and found that the average times I  check my phone is between 83-113 times per day.  Wow! I had no idea.

Another concern, Alex Karai reports, is that about 75% of Americans have experienced anxiety when leaving their phone at home. We have become so dependent on this little device that seems to connect us to the outside world, but disconnect us from those in our immediate circle.

I feel so vulnerable without my cell phone, what happens if I get into an accident, or what if one of my kids need me, how would I connect if something happened?  I have definitely turned back around when I realized I left my phone behind to avoid these types of feelings.

A few more statistics to compare your level of smartphone usage according to Reviews.org:

• 46% use/look at their phone on a date. (I have started putting my phone in my purse so I am not tempted to look at it or answer any calls.)
• 27% use/look at their phone while driving. (There is a do not disturb setting you can have automatically set on your phone so you won’t be GUILTY of distracted driving.)
• 55% have not gone more than 24 hours without their smartphone. (I also have not gone more than 24 hours without my phone.)

Turning away from your phone is challenging because it constantly vies for your attention. Notifications act as dopamine hits, and algorithms change what you see based on what you like. Changing careless habits like these are hard for even the most determined individual.

One key to solving this problem is recognizing that you may be spending more time than you realize with your phone. Tracking this behavior with an app or phone setting helps to understand the actual amount of time spent with your device. This problem isn’t going away tomorrow, and as a society we are all immensely involved with our phones. Recognizing there is a problem is the first step to recovery.

Go check out this QUIZ to see where you rank with your smartphone usage.