Has your time on the phone, or with other electronic devices taken over your life?

BY STEVEN KASZAB

Are you addicted to your smartphone? Going to bed, the bathroom, lunches, and dinners with your phone?

You can go to some online apps that will show you just how much time you spend on these devices. Smartphone addiction is known as “nomophobia,” simply meaning the fear of being without your phone. Overuse of the internet is a real addiction disorder. Checking and rechecking your electronic devices, like your breathing fresh air may show you have a technological addiction, and it does not matter what your age, sex, or race may be, technology can and has acquired your attention greatly.

What can you do to deal with this problem? First recognize you indeed have a problem. Then you can follow a few of these suggestions:

Turn off your alerts

You can ignore your phone if it is not alerting you every other minute. If you cannot miss any alerts no matter how long you wait, pass the phone onto a trusted partner who can take a message for you. Setting your phone into a mode that only alerts you of super important messages is key.

Remind yourself of the problem

Put a rubber band onto the device to remind you of your problem, and the need to plan personal time from technology.

Get an alarm clock

Instead of using the phone as an alarm clock, which could lead you into multi-tasking in the middle of the night, buy a single use alarm clock.

Cold turkey

Go cold turkey by staying off for set periods of time.

Plan for tech-free time

Set rules stating no tech allowed when: eating, sleeping and playing about. Plan some offline fun time. Encourage others to do the same.

No phone or tech zones

Create no phone or tech zones within your home, workplace and community and do not disturb anyone who is participating in tech-free time.

GET RID of APPS

They keep an eye upon you, alert you with promotion upon promotion. A silenced electronic device is a money saving device.

Set boundaries

Even those who must have their phones on at all times can let the boss know that there is business time and personal time. Don’t let one impose itself upon the other.

The common adage claiming that technology is a tool that will make your life easier and better is a fool’s expectation, and a tech salesperson’s promotional dream. Technology, like all other things can take your life over, transform it, manipulate it and not benefit you.