Smartphones have become a necessity in our lives today. Smartphone adoption is on the rise and this trend is expected to continue. Now a days, we can’t even imagine a single day without our smartphones. But have you ever wondered what harm is it causing?
Our over dependence on the devices is actually hampering our productivity in many ways. At first glance, we might not realise it but if we think deeper, we will realise this fact. In this article, we will look into the potential harm that smartphones might be causing and what can we do to tackle it.
What is a smartphone?
According to dictionary definition, a smartphone is a cell phone with the capabilities of a computer. It can perform tasks like web browsing, emailing, playing music, etc. apart from cell phone uses like phone calls, text messages, etc. Modern day smartphones have exceeded human expectations of what a phone can do. Today, smartphones have become very advanced, thanks to modern day technologies like Artificial Intelligence. Generative AI has taken smartphone capabilities to a whole new level.
But overuse of smartphones has killed our productivity in many ways. We often don’t realise it. Let us look at how smartphones have harmed us in several ways.
Smartphones harming us?
Smartphones have harmed us or hampered our productivity in the following ways:
Addiction: Smartphone addiction is common in teens. Most people get addicted to smartphones and spend their valuable time looking at the smartphone screens. While this valuable time could have been spent doing something productive, they waste it on viewing apps, scrolling social media, playing virtual games, etc.
Comparison: The rise of smartphone usage also gave rise to the increased consumption of social media content. Excessive use of social media has been found as the cause of unnecessary comparison, depression, etc among people. Limiting social media use is of utmost importance for having a sound mental health among people.
Distraction: Distractions because of smartphones are a common phenomena. We all know how annoying the push notifications can get sometimes. It can also propel us to check our phones again and again even if we didn’t wanted to. Distractions hamper us in our daily lives, kills our productivity and waste a lot of our valuable time.
What can be done to tackle it?
Several steps can be taken to use smartphone effectively and to cut the unnecessary time spent on it. Here are some ways that I would like to suggest:
Limiting Push Notifications: Push notifications act as a catalyst to persuade us to pick up our phones and start the useless scrolling. Limiting push notifications can greatly help us in reducing time spent on our smartphones. Today, most smartphones have the option of managing push notifications. You can use it to limit the number of push notifications, filter the apps allowed to send push notifications and thereby controlling the notifications.
Checking the screen time: I believe screen time has been a very helpful tool that both iOS and Android have rolled out in decades. Checking one’s screen time can help one realise how much time is spent on smartphones and thereby encouraging to cut it down. Screen time also provides tools like setting time limit for each app, which helps people to control their screen time. Proper use of this feature will help us find some time to do something productive.
Increasing Outdoor Activities: Engaging in outdoor physical activities like sports and gym will not only boost our physical health but also our mental health. We should involve ourselves in these activities and as we do it, we will find less time to engage in smartphones. Outdoor activities are quite necessary in our lives and it is time for us to leave virtual games on our mobile phones and play real sports.
Limiting Social Media Use: Social media apps are one of the big reasons for smartphone addiction. Limiting social media usage will help us tackle our addiction of smartphones to a great extent. We can also log out of social media apps when not using them to prevent them from distracting us. Also we can consider deactivating or deleting them if not very much required.
To conclude, smartphone is a very innovative and useful tool and if used properly, can help us improve ourselves, increase our knowledge and much more. But for that, we must tackle its shortcomings as early as possible to reap its benefits to the fullest. Do you have any suggestions regarding this? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading. Do share it with others!
