See how dependent you are on your phone, and how to stop

During the summer of 2016, we passed along some data generated by research firm Dscout, showing that the average person touches his phone 2,617 times a day. The same research found that the average person uses their handset 2.4 hours a day, rising to 3.8 hours a day for a heavier user. But these stats don't really get to the heart of the matter. The real question to be asking is, are you dependent on your smartphone to the point that you feel withdrawal symptoms when you don't have it up and running?

Check out the flow chart that we cut into easier-to-read bite sized images in the slideshow below. There, you will be able to see whether you might suffer from "nomophobia" (the fear of being without your mobile phone). Do you start to get nervous when the battery indicator on your phone drops to 15%? If your network is down (and there is no Wi-Fi signal), do you keep checking your handset to see if connectivity has returned? Depending on how you respond to questions like, "Do you fret over unanswered emails while on the go?," you might be dependent on your phone.

So how can you break through a smartphone dependency? The infographic that follows the flow chart in the slideshow gives you some suggestions. One thing that might help is to use the word "don't" instead of "can't. Repeat to yourself over and over, "I don't check my phone more than once an hour." Another idea is to start with smaller, reachable goals. Instead of telling yourself that you are going to leave your phone alone for an hour at a time, start with 15-minutes instead. Google ethicist Tristan Harris suggests that a dependent smartphone user scramble the position of apps on his/her device. This will keep the user's thumb from using muscle memory to click on the same apps over and over.

Data indicate that those who go cold turkey from their phone suffer through many of the same feelings of withdrawal that a person dependent on drugs does when he/she abrupt;y stops taking them. If that scares you enough to start the process of weaning off of your handset, check out the tips on how to do this by clicking on the slideshow below.


source: CashNetUSA