How do you break the Mobile Devise Habit?

                           By Tom Anselm

Hello friends,

Here’s an alarming statistic for you:

It is estimated that conservatively, the average USA-person spends 3.5 hours on their mobile device daily. That does not count computer, tablet, ipad time. Just the phone. And we all know about averages, which means some people don’t come close and others go way over the 3.5 hours. Yikes!

Now some countries, like Brazil and Russia, are even worse. The US, surprisingly, is not the worst, although in the top five of time spent on devices. But think of the first stat… three and a half hours, minimum. Which brings me to a lot of questions and observations. I know I am guilty of some of these, so there’s that.

Consider: Have you left your house and noticed you left your phone at home, and went back to get it? No matter how far away you might be? When you get a text, and the little bell dings, do you immediately open it, no matter where you are or what you are doing… like driving, resting, watching TV, taking a walk, eating, out with friends, watching a kids sporting event, a play, at church?

Is your phone on your nightstand? Dresser? Desk? Always in your pocket? Have you ever had a conversation in text that took 15 minutes when to just have called the other person would have taken 3? Have you seen little kids in restaurants, in church, at their siblings events, zoned into a tablet or moms phone, oblivious to their surroundings? Heard someone ask a question, and everyone whips out their phone to Google the answer? Woke up to use the bathroom and checked your phone?

Have you ever turned your phone off, not just muted, but completely off, for any extended time, like even a half-hour? I’ll come back to this one.

Have you received a message in email, text, on instant message, and felt compelled to respond, even with a heart or thumbs-up or exclamation point? Felt Compelled!!

Have you sent a message in any way to an individual or group and not gotten any responses and felt bad about it, like, what is wrong with me? Did anyone see this? Am I being ignored? Am I not loved?

Yeah. These are just a few things that come to mind when I think of how we, all of us, are in some ways indelibly tainted and addled by what some have called The Tyranny of Technology.

Like I said, I have felt this to a degree. But I can’t imagine what others, namely our youth, must feel, as I see them with their devices constantly at the ready, in hand, on their desks, at their tables, tacked to their car holders, texting, insta-ing, tic-tocking, incessantly, even as they sit in a room with their friends and families.

Some call this FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out. Others call it an unhealthy addiction that is only getting worse. It has lead to anxiety, depression, suicides, and a disconnect with the very people we hold dearest to us.

Now there are great uses, of course, of tech communication. Businesses, many of whom are now completely online, with no physical offices. People who rely on the phone for their customer contacts. Getting those “landed, home safe, found the dog, operation successful” types of notices. Transportation, intelligence… oh, many more. All for the greater good…

Mostly.

Here is a final question.

Have you ever completed turned off your phone for any extended time since getting it, or at least kept it muted and not looked at it for an hour? Do you think you could do it? Are you afraid of the anxiety it may produce? Maybe, just maybe, it would be a good idea.

I’m gonna give it a try and let you know how it goes.

Just as soon as I check my email.

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