Psychologists will tell you: The first step in breaking any addiction is to admit you’re an addict.
Do any of these apply to you?
Phone Usage
You conceal phone usage from family and friends. You go to the bathroom or out to your car and go through posts on Facebook or Instagram.
You need to have your smartphone on 24/7. The “ping” when a notification comes in wakes you up in the night and you HAVE to go look at it. Then you find it hard to get back to sleep and are like a “zombie” the next day.
You take your phone with you everywhere and get anxious when it’s out of your sight. You have it with you at meal times and check it while you’re eating.
FOMO
You suffer from FOMO and are anxious that something is going on that you’ll regret missing.
You lose track of time when you’re using your smartphone. You’re easily distracted – for example you just meant to check an e-mail, but the next thing you know it’s an hour later.
MINDLESS SCROLLING
You text people more often than you speak to them – even when you see them every day.
You mindlessly scroll through your phone, even when you’re not looking for anything in particular. You don’t know what to do with your hands when you’re not holding your phone.
You feel “phantom vibrations” thinking you’re getting a text or notification, even when you’re not.
If you answered “yes” to more than a couple, there’s a good chance you’re a smartphone addict.
FACE IT
You need to face up to this RIGHT NOW. I’m not suggesting you have to greet people by saying “Hi I’m [firstname] and I’m a smartphone addict.” But you DO have to face up to it. Once you know you’ve got a problem, you’ve taken the first step to solving it. The second step is to decide “this all has to stop NOW”.
Post-Phone Addiction Steps
Now after you’ve gotten things back under control as we have suggested in other posts, and you got into haveing a beneficial relationship with your smartphone on your terms, monitor the situation closely and nip any potential problems in the bud.
If you find that you’re starting to develop a “problem” again, repeat the steps we’ve in other posts. Because it’s easy to get carried away, it’s a good idea to enlist the help of friends and family to help you in this. They can tell you if they notice you’re starting to spend too much time with your phone. If you’re speaking to people (as opposed to texting) and meeting real friends (as opposed to the Facebook kind) you’re much less likely to relapse.
Always bear in mind that you control your phone; your phone doesn’t control you.
Let’s Recap
We talked about how phone addiction can really mess up your life. I set you a test to tell if you’re a smartphone addict (or have the potential to become one). We covered the first steps to take when it comes to weaning yourself off your phone. We covered how you can build a better relationship with your smartphone and how to keep things on track now you’ve “recovered”.
All this takes discipline, but it’s the easiest way of taking back control.