For many of us, we’ve recently had 4 days off work, have just completed an Easter break or are in the middle of the school holidays.
How much of your time off is being spent staring at or scrolling through your phone?
We created Another Number as we’re aware that many of us are slaves to our phones and from what we still see, this hasn’t changed and is in some cases getting worse.
For teenagers especially it seems to be like removing a limb if you confiscate their phones and it may feel like you need one of these, that we recently spotted on Amazon, or they will always find a sneaky way to get back online.
But are we setting a good example as adults?
There is always a quick check of work emails, or a scroll through our social media whilst waiting for the bill in a restaurant and we so often look to our phones if we have a few minutes of time to ourselves. This isn’t always a bad thing but then we often complain that we’re too busy to do other things.
It’s a hard habit to break so here a few tips:
When you’re relaxing put your phone out of reach so you can’t easily start looking at it unecessarily
Don’t pick up your phone unless you need something specific
If you do need to check work out of hours, have one set time period or you’ll waste hours checking ‘just in case’.
If you’re on holiday or taking a long weekend, make sure colleagues know that you’ll not be available so that a) they don’t expect a response and b) you don’t feel bad for not being in touch. Ensure that everyone has something to do during that time so there is no complaining.
Set a clear time with your children for no phones for all (even if you do need to invest in a mobile phone prison!)
Look at why you use your phone most and seek out alternatives, for example, if it’s for photos, try picking up an old camera, if it’s for reading, buy a new paperback.
Don’t take your phone to your bedroom as it’ll be the last thing and the first thing you look at which isn’t good for sleep quality or waking up fresh.
It’s a hard habit to crack but hopefully, these few tips will help. If work calls and messages are your issue, try Another Number as it allows you to switch these off whilst still being able to use your personal number. Find out more here.
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