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If you are anything like the vast majority of today’s population, you have a serious, undiagnosed addiction that you aren’t even aware of. Or worse, you are afraid to acknowledge it. Should you immediately join a 12-step program? Consult a counselor? We will come back to this answer of what to do but, most of you, if given a choice, would rather receive a mild electric shock than give up your addiction for just thirty minutes.
What is even more troubling is that many of you are quietly guilty of inadvertently passing on the same addiction to your children.
Urgent Notifications
That smartphone in your pocket, purse or backpack chirps, buzzes or vibrates, alerting you to an urgent email message. You’ve just received a funny Tweet, some total stranger just gave you a “like” on Instagram or Facebook, and a watched item in one of your many online shopping carts just got put on sale. All innocent activities but how often do you receive a notification?
Reward Per Swipe
The average person checks his or her phone a minimum of 50 times each day, and a good portion of you check your smartphone 300 times or more every day. If that isn’t a serious clinical problem, who knows what is. Just imagine what this is doing to your children. Try to imagine their smartphone and internet activity dwarf your usage. They are probably checking dozens of social media sites and apps you’ve never even heard of. You and your children and an entire generation of young people are hopelessly addicted. If your smartphone swipes were heroin hits, you would already be dead! Yet the same pleasure zones in your brain give you a fresh reward with every swipe.
Can’t Live Without It
Your kids are even more vulnerable. They see you swiping away constantly, and all of their friends add to the tacit approval. In many ways, the apps and platforms have been designed especially for their addiction. And doesn’t it work perfectly? As designed? You and your children cannot live one day without it.
Establish Rules
Isn’t it time to take matters into your own hands? By getting serious? What to do? First, have a family talk with everyone concerned. Establish some rules. Set aside one complete 24-hour day in which the entire family turns off their devices. And no cheating! Next, make your smartphone dull and boring by changing the settings from color to grayscale.
Change Sleep Habits
For the rest of the week, turn off instant notifications and stop using your phone as an alarm clock or watch, especially at night and in bed. Imagine how disturbed your children’s sleep has become as a result of smartphone usage. If you need to learn about the benefits of good sleep habits, check out our discussions on sleep.
No Texting While Eating
While you are in the process of changing your family’s phone and internet activity, never, and we mean make it a firm rule, never allow a smartphone at the dinner table. That means at Fast Food stops as well. Don’t just set your phone on the table while you are eating. Make it a rule that texting or swiping while eating is strictly forbidden.
These first few steps may be just enough to break your smartphone addiction. Please take some time to learn more about technology addiction.
This report is not a diagnosis. We hope this information can guide you toward improving your life.
Review our Knowledge Base or the links displayed on this page for similar and related topics.