Have you recently been to a dinner or coffee shop and seen a group of people all on their phones at the same time? It’s sad to say that this has become all too common. A person’s connection to their phone is reaching new dependence.
- 42% of people look at their phone within the first 10 minutes of being awake.
- 59% of people between the ages of Millennials reported texting while driving, compared with 50% of Gen Xers (age 34 to 45) and only 29% of baby boomers.
- The average American checks his or her phone 46 times in one day.
- People underestimate their phone usage by 100%. In other words, they are on their phones twice as much as they believe!
- Impaired attention
- Lower ability to process numbers
- Reduced excitability
- Worse performance on cognitive control tasks
- Less production of Melatonin (chemicals that put you to sleep)
- Less gray matter in their brains overall (brain connections and functioning)
Consider the following: 1) less FaceTime on your phone, 2) less phone checking, 3) less screen time, 4) not viewing the phone or tablet in the evening (blue light and brain activation is not good for sleep) 5) more awareness about how much of your time and attention has you occupied with your phone. Where is your consciousness? Make you life and time a higher quality by real face to face interaction and more quiet time without your phone to distract or direct you to be less present in the world.
Take the quiz here to find out: Nomophobia Quiz
