Smartphones have changed the way we live our lives, but did you know that they are also changing the way our brains work? According to a study by Microsoft, since 2000 when smartphones began to take their regular place in our palms, the average human attention span has dropped to less than that of a goldfish.
It’s no wonder, when heavy users can be tapping and swiping away for up to 3.8 hours a day, and if these stats are scaring you, there are things you can do to break your own phone addiction. They have been developed to keep us picking them up and using them, no matter what else we are doing at the time, so you need some techniques to help you resist those temptations.
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One major way you can break your phone addiction is to turn off the push notifications that apps rely on to get our attention throughout the day (and night). Disable the notifications for social apps like Facebook and Instagram, and you will be able to regain control of your life instead of being at the beck and call of your phone.
Related: Technology: The Reason You are Stressed, Depressed and Bored
Another easy habit to fall into is checking your phone if you wake up during the night, something that 4 out of 10 of us admit to doing and our smartphones are starting to affect the way we sleep. So you need to stop using yours as an alarm clock and keep it switched off and out of arm’s reach.
One more tip that is simple to try out is to mix up your home screen to prevent your fingers from easily finding those apps you waste most of your time on. Ideally, you should move these social media apps off your home screen too.
These are just a few techniques you can use, and CashNetUSA has come up with 10 ways that you can free yourself from your smartphone in this infographic. Try them out and prove that you have more of an attention span than a goldfish.
Originally posted on January 15, 2018 @ 11:00 am
