In this post, I will sincerely discuss about the biggest plague in our generation, that is, MOBILE-ADDICTION! I will discuss some parts from my journey of mobile addiction and how I stopped it to a great extent and will try to help you with getting over your mobile addiction by using it for reference.
Are you really a ‘mobile-addict’ ?
I know the question is weird but trust me, first ask yourself, are you really a ‘mobile-addict’. I have raised this question because many times someone is called as a ‘mobile-addict’ even if he/she is not really an addict.
Although in most cases, the answer is ‘yes’ and if your answer is same, then don’t feel that you are alone. Because almost everyone who owns a mobile, has an average screen time of 4-10.5 hours depending on their ages. Below is an article regarding the time spent on screen by people-
https://www.insider.com/how-much-screen-time-is-too-much
What causes this ‘mobile-addiction’ ?
The two of the major reasons why our eyes get sticked to screen are video games and social media.
According to a study, people spend around 8.5 hours weekly on screen. Which means, on an average, people spend 1.2 hours on. Although it is less but still these 8.5 hours are an average only. There are several cases with extreme number of hours weekly as high as 15 hours ! Here is that study-
If we talk about social media, people spend about 2.4 hours daily on social media which adds to their ‘already-high’ screen time. Here is the link of this report
Should we worry about ‘mobile-addiction’ ?
The answer is YES!!
We should be seriously concerend by this issue. As years are passing since the invention of mobile, more and more reports are coming on the effects of over-usage of mobiles. I will list some important horrible effects of over-dosage of mobiles which will aware you of the alarming situation our generation is going through-
- Damage to our eyes – The rays emitted out of our mobile sreens tend to promote the growth of ‘poisonous-molecules’ in the retina of eyes. Thus, damaging our eyes. However this test was not performed on human eyes so there is still some speculation going on this topic, but still many experts suggest to take prevalent measures to avoid such phenomenon as it is also not confirmed whether these rays damage our eyes or not. Here is that report-
https://nypost.com/2018/08/13/your-phone-is-blinding-you-scientists-warn/
- Disturbance in sleep pattern – Addictive use of mobile do disturb your sleep. It’s no joke ! The blue ray emitted by our screens stops the production of an hormone ,which controls our sleep cycle, known as melatonin. As a result we also have to face the additional effects of lack of sleep.
- Increased levels of stress – See, when we use the social media and see others’ photos or posts getting more likes or friendly-comments, our brain tends to compare ourselves with themselves even when both of the persons have equal privileges to enjoy. This results in self-confidende deterioration, This is not limited to only social media, it happens even in competitive games. When others play play better than us, our brain does the same comparison resulting in stress (Happened with me too for some time)
So these are the major ones but there are other signifucant topics too where the researches are going on.
How to stop being a ‘mobile-addict’ ?
See, I told you earlier also that even I was once a ‘mobile-addict’. And I used only one mantra to change that fact. And that was-
FOLLOW THAT SECOND THING WHICH YOU LOVE ( 1st is your mobile, I suppose)
Now this second thing can be anything like sketching,painting,playing sports, going to gym, workouts, reading books, solving tough maths question etc. You may think that some of these things can’t be done in every period of the day. But hey, I didn’t say that you have to do them everytime you think of seeing phone. I am trying to say that try to lessen your sreen time as much as you can by following your ‘2nd love’. In my case, it was football and I tried to play it any moment I can so that I could avoid my mobile phone.
And you also won’t get demotivated while doing these things as they are your real love in the real world, not your virtual world. Basically, they are your ‘real love’ as we are in a real world not the virtual world.
I will also give you two pro tips that you can use while transitioning from a mobile-addict to a NON – mobile-addict-
- Turn off the notifications of all your apps which you use the most
- Add a wallpaper saying – ” I am a time-waster”, ” Turn me off”. You get the idea, I guess
Hope you got some help by this post !!
Please visit the post below to learn the next big thing after becoming a NON- mobile-addict.
