Everywhere I go, my phone goes along with me. Part of the reason for its constant presence is my need to be available to folks. My job and my family are both benefited by access to me whenever and wherever I happen to be. It’s also a convenience. From time to time, I have trouble finding an address or I need to take a note that I would otherwise forget. Apart from that, my phone keeps me entertained when I feel bored. I can read the news, books, and articles or play games or waste time in almost a limitless variety of ways wherever I happen to be. I read recently that the average person with a smartphone looks at their phone more than 1,500 times a week and a total of 3 hours and 16 minutes a day. This is obviously a lot of time, but the negative impact of this excess use of electronics, apart from the obvious wasting of time, is that it tends to make people less happy. Studies have found that people who stare at a phone screen for 2 hours or more a day tend to be less happy in general. This effect is increased by the use of certain apps, like Facebook. The oddest thing about smart phone use is it’s often brought on by boredom or the need to be distracted from the situation we are in at the moment. Boredom has become almost intolerable in our culture. Smart phones provide an easy escape from even the hint of boredom and with minimal effort. Boredom is essentially an unmet need for stimulation, to be engaged mentally or emotionally, but are left without any source of stimulation. Once upon a time, overcoming boredom required that we put forth effort or use creativity to to defeat the discomfort of being bored. Oddly enough, that expenditure of effort is good for us. It takes more effort to have a conversation with the person sitting across from you at dinner than it does to scroll through your Facebook feed. Going for a walk is harder than playing Candy Crush. It’s easier to scroll through pictures on Instagram than it is to read a book or clean the house. Thinking is more difficult than watching Youtube videos. However, all of these activities provide personal benefits, psychologically and personally, that are simply not available through passive entertainment. Studies have even found that surfing and reading web sites is of less benefit than reading actual books. There are all sorts of reasons for this. Face-to-face social interaction and connection is hardwired into our biology and cannot be replaced by Facebook. Further, studies have found that boredom prompts creative thinking. The discomfort of boredom literally prompts people to act to change the situation they are in or provides space for thinking and reflecting that produces new ideas or individual depth through reflection. This is not to say that the advent of cell phones is all bad or that we should all become luddites. Rather, the point is that spending time staring at a screen with no awareness of how much total time is being devoted or without any guardrails regarding when, where, or how often it happens is detrimental. A simple way to manage time with digital devices is to limit it to certain times or places, so it’s only taking place after work and before dinner or as a reward for accomplishing other tasks. Another way to deal with an excess of time spent in digital activities is to track it so you’re aware of how much time is going toward it. I recently downloaded “Moment”, an app that tracks how much time I use my phone. Through it, I realized that it’s easy to waste 2 or more hours a day on it. Knowing that, I have started cutting back and seeing under unitized time as an opportunity to read or spend time with my kids. I think the most important thing when it comes to cell phones and digital devices is to be aware and intentional. Convenience can easily lead to impulsive use, whether or not it’s good for us.
