Thinking about a healthier lifestyle and an improved future, I realised how much time I spend on my mobile phone and concluded that it is time to build better digital habits. I spend way too much time on my phone, and if you do too then this article is a must-read.

Smart phones have increasingly started interfering in our lives, from the minute we wake up until we sleep. This I believe is becoming a major problem for the society, not only does it affect our physical health but also our mental and emotional well-being.  Research has shown that besides increasing anxiousness, the compulsion to check notifications and feeds interferes with our ability to focus. I can totally relate to this, even though we may feel that we are getting better at multi-tasking, the truth is we are losing focus and our attention span is getting shorter.

Since we are aware of the adverse health effects of phone addiction, I will not emphasize the same; hoping you and I will follow the below tips to get rid of the cell phone addiction:

1. Use a watch to check time: I’ve seen myself and people looking at the phone instead of a wrist watch to check what time it is. As soon as you have your phone in your hand, there is no way that you will not check your notifications or make a call or type a message without the real need to do so. Instead of the few seconds of checking time, this can take a couple minutes of your precious time, diverting your attention unnecessarily.

2. No-phone time zones: Allow yourself a few minutes/ hours of no-phone time zone every day. I prefer turning my phone off for a few minutes several times a day, usually while driving, eating, napping, etc.
3. Get real, not virtual: Be present physically and mentally where ever you are at all times. This means to have a real conversation with the person sitting across you at meeting, lunches, and dinners. This means to socially interact with people, make eye contact, and understand body language. This means to understand and value people who have taken out time to come meet you. 
4. Don’t lose sleep over it: Be strict with yourself to follow your bedtime, don’t let Netflix, Instagram or video games rule over you. The phone is seriously not worth losing your sleep over.
5. Keep it out of sight: This one works the best for me, as long as I do not see my phone around, it does not become a distraction. Use tactics like charging it in another room or leaving it on silent inside your purse, to purposely avoid your phone until it is required.

The most important one is to turn off all notifications, you don’t need to be notified for every new ‘like’ that your new Instagram update gets. Although I have managed to delete a few social media apps from my phone and turn off notifications for a few, this one is a tough one for most young people. It is your turn now!

Image Source: New York Post