The shocking headline of this article probably caused you to click or tap on it, thinking "What?! I love my phone!" and don't get me wrong, having one is convenient, entertaining, and I take pride in the fact that I have not yet cracked an iPhone screen in my five years of owning them. I thoroughly enjoy the group message I have going with my best friends from home and using my phone to keep in touch with them is important. But let me explain in further detail why my phone is slowly becoming one of the most annoying parts of my day.
My alarm rings at 8:45 a.m. every weekday. I usually tap snooze once, use those nine minutes to wake up (or sleep a little longer), then slide the ringer off. I then find myself spending much longer than I intend to checking up on social media, emails, text messages, and repeating that process. Truthfully, I have not missed much, because I had last checked my phone at 1:30 a.m. before falling asleep. I end up frustrated with myself for having wasted 10-15 valuable morning minutes staring at my screen. Throughout the day, I constantly check my phone, sometimes with clicks of the lock screen button only minutes apart. Most students, myself included, walk from class to class with eyes glued to their phones. Thinking about how much time I waste scrolling through nothing gives me headache. My eyes are going to be strained from looking at pixels and a bright light all day. But I still can't seem to keep my phone down, and it makes me mad. I even get mad about it while I am clicking through apps, but do I shut the phone off and turn to something else? More than likely, no. I just sit there and wallow in my guilt about wasting time. From the moment I wake up, my phone is attached to me.
We tend to all check our phones not so much out of addiction, but more out of habit. We, as a generation who has spent most of our lives with access to the newest technology, are used to the idea of instant gratification, social media updates, and focusing on the screens. I try hard to not check my phone when I am with my friends, but I am very aware that I don't do as well as I should with that simple sign of paying attention to the world around me. Even as I sit here writing this article my phone is laying next to me, screen side up, glaring. It lights up every once in a while and I fight the urge to check it immediately. At the risk of sounding like a huge hypocrite, because I know I am guilty, I hate this culture we've created of being stuck on our phones. Whatever happened to being truly social? It's now considered awkward to speak to people in passing, on elevators, or sitting next to them in class, on the bus, or in any situation where you don't know anyone. We all go to dinner together, but our phones come too. We are never unplugged. I am starting to understand why parents and grandparents always mutter about us "teens and our cell phones." We are probably missing out on so much.
It is widely known that our phones have impacted our attention spans and ability to focus. I can no longer read books without my mind wandering after a few paragraphs. Any video longer than three minutes is too long. I can't sit in a quiet classroom without checking Twitter. My phone certainly doesn't help my diagnosed attention issues and learning struggles. I hate that I can't focus on important things like studying for longer than 20 minutes without needing a break or getting distracted. Our phones have become our security blankets, we feel better looking at a screen than our conversation partner's face. It's time to fix that. But how?
When I feel myself getting mad over how much time I am wasting, I try to put my phone down. I hide it. When I'm doing homework, I do my best to keep it away, on my bed, so it is out of reach from my desk. I try not to immediately search for it when I lose it in the blankets on my bed. My newest goal is to not check social media until I truthfully have nothing else going on. I try to only use my phone in the morning to check the time, weather, and turn on some music. Note that the operative word here is "try." It definitely takes some adjusting to not want to be on our phones all the time. Fixing our phone habits is as simple as re-centering ourselves on self control. I know I have work to do on this, but if my suggestions can help someone else "detox" as well, then I have written successfully.
Take a moment and check out this powerful spoken word by Gary Turk about our social media tendencies.
If you find yourself interested, here is a good phone detox from our friends at BuzzFeed.
It's time to be social in real life.
