Over half
of the world has a smartphone, and the devices’ evolution from a luxury
to a necessity has been rapid and all-encompassing. In the professional
realm, our phones are vital for communication, information access,
learning and development, business operations, travel, and client
management. Mobile phones have undoubtedly brought many benefits to our
work and private lives. In our personal lives, they’re a gateway to
social connections, entertainment, world news, travel, and a vast ocean
of personalized digital content. However,
more scientific studies
are highlighting that their omnipresence brings the risk of
dysfunctional behavior, dependency, and overuse, which can facilitate a
wealth of detrimental downstream impacts on our health, relationships,
and productivity. This is when mobile phone use can become problematic.
Signs You Have a Phone Addiction
Drawing
together academic research from psychology, sociology, and
neuroscience, we provide insight into the signs that your phone use may
be dysfunctional. When the costs start to outweigh the benefits, you
might need to renegotiate your relationship with your phone.
First, consider your relationship with your phone and how you interact with it:
Loss of control
Do
you use your phone compulsively? Do you frequently check it with no
purpose? Do you feel you cannot control your usage, despite your good
intentions? Your phone use is trending toward
addiction
if you often, automatically, and randomly pick up your phone during
even brief moments of downtime or boredom like while waiting in line or
during a pause in conversation. If you feel a deep and uncontrollable
urge to check your phone even when you know there are no new updates or important messages, this can be a warning sign.
Dependence
Do
you feel lost without your phone? Do you feel anxious, stressed, or
irritable if you have to turn it off for periods of time? Are you
preoccupied with the thought of missing a call or text? If the thought
of being without your phone causes significant stress or anxiety, this
can be a concern. Dependence is evident if you feel you need your phone
for all daily activities, if you feel anxious or panicky when your phone
is not in immediate reach, or if you can’t take your mind off a text or
email when you can’t instantly respond.
Emotional coping
Is
phone use the only way you cope with negative emotions such as boredom,
frustration, or stress in your life? Is it your ticket to avoiding
unpleasant experiences like social anxiety? While mobile phone use can
provide temporary stress relief, it becomes problematic when it’s used
as a habitual and primary coping mechanism for discomfort and
keeps you from developing other methods to cope with your emotions.
This can trigger a vicious cycle because mobile phone use can both help
you feel relief in the short term and ignite even more anxiety,
loneliness, and fear of missing out.
These
addictive tendencies may not be problematic until they impede your
daily functioning. Identify whether your phone use negatively impacts
your emotions, cognitive performance, and social relationships:
Negative emotions
Simply put, does engaging with your phone make you feel bad? Do you feel heightened
stress
and anxiety, or more lonely after using it? Do you hide your usage from
others or feel shame or guilt for using it? Do you end up feeling
anxious and overloaded after just a few minutes of use? Negative
emotions and moods after technology use are common — some studies have
linked smartphone dependency to increased feelings of
loneliness and depression,
as well as negative overall well-being. Thus, if you typically feel
poorly after checking your phone, it can be a sign that your habit has
become problematic.
Compromised performance and focus
Does
your phone interfere with getting important things done? Constantly
distract you? Limit your ability to think clearly? While smartphones can
certainly augment human cognition, the
mere presence of your phone (even when not in use) can consume the
cognitive resources you need to think clearly, pay attention, make clear decisions, and
regulate your emotions.
Interruptions
and distractions from your phone (like those pesky notifications) can
manifest as reduced ability to sustain attention, leading to
inefficiency, mistakes, missed deadlines, and sometimes downright
dangerous situations. In addition, evening phone use can affect your ability to
mentally detach and recover from the stress of the workday, leaving you more depleted over time.
Harmed social relationships
Does
using your phone prevent you from listening, understanding, and
engaging in face-to-face conversation? Do important people around you
feel
neglected
because you’re attending to your phone instead of them? When you always
prioritize your mobile phone over the people around you, it can harm
your real-world relationships and is thus a sign of
problematic use.
This can include constantly checking your phone during family time,
social gatherings, or important personal events. The phone becomes a
barrier to meaningful engagement with others and
reduces social support, one of the most important resources for coping with stress and maintaining well-being.
You Are Not Alone
If you see yourself in many of the descriptions above, you’re not alone.
Using an established scale
and objective indicators (such as phone pick-ups), we conducted a study
of 160 working individuals (ranging from entry-level to middle and
senior management or executive level) to explore the prevalence and
problematic nature of mobile phone use.
We
found some interesting initial results. First, we’re interrupted by our
phones about every 13 minutes of our awake time — that is, respondents
received on average 65 notifications on their phones per day and picked
up their phones 72 times per day. Younger individuals at entry-level
jobs are interrupted even more frequently, every 9.5 minutes.
Second, negative outcomes such as feelings of stress were not so much related to the actual
time spent
on the phone itself but rather to the experience of dependency and
compulsion and the negative emotions that are wound up with them. In
addition, 50% of respondents would be categorized as “at-risk users” or
“problematic users” according to
cyber addiction standards used for this scale. This means that potentially problematic phone use is
not uncommon and needs to be regulated to avoid downstream consequences for mental health and relationships.
How to Regain Some Control
Understand
and acknowledge these signs so you can better navigate the challenges
posed by these important digital companions — ensuring that they serve
you, rather than the other way around:
Self-awareness
First,
learn the signs
of problematic use and be honest with yourself. This might require
talking to your colleagues, friends, and family to see if they’ve
noticed the patterns of behavior outlined above. Then, make a commitment
to change. You might start with a few
experiments like the one we conducted at the executive program. Notice how you think, feel, and behave when separated from your phone.
Self-regulation
Establishing
clear boundaries
is a critical step in reducing problematic mobile phone use. This could
involve designated phone-free times, such as during meals, family
gatherings, or before bed. Put your phone away from your desk, dinner
table, or bedside and
reduce notifications
while working so you’re not interrupted when doing a task that demands
your attention. You can also set limits on specific apps or types of
usage, or even
lock away your phone.
For
example, to keep from going down the rabbit hole of content
consumption, you might decide to check emails only at certain times of
the day or
limit social media use
by setting a specific end time. Enforcing these boundaries helps create
a healthier balance between the benefits brought by your phone and
other meaningful aspects of life. Like breaking any habit, it takes time
and repetition, and starting small can feel more doable.Flexible coping
strategies
Rather than systematically avoiding difficult feelings, engage in alternative emotion and
stress-regulation strategies. Also, don’t let your phone use erode your
recovery resources,
particularly your ability to psychologically detach from work. Those
resources might include physical exercise, meditation, hobbies, building
human relationships, or spending time in nature.
Professional help
In
cases where your mobile phone use has become deeply compulsive or
interferes significantly with your personal and professional life,
seeking professional help may be necessary. This can include cognitive
behavioral therapy with a mental health professional who specializes in
addiction or digital dependency. They can offer personalized strategies
and support to address the underlying causes of problematic phone use.
Additionally, workshops or support groups focused on managing digital
consumption can provide valuable tools and peer support.
. . .
In
our digital age, smartphones have become a double-edged sword, offering
boundless information at our fingertips while silently ensnaring us in a
web of overdependence. Unchecked phone use can erode our mental
well-being, dull our professional edge, and disrupt our most cherished
relationships. Yet, by recognizing the stealthy creep of phone
addiction, we can begin to redraw the boundaries and be more intentional
about when we engage. This is not merely about cutting down screen time
— it’s about reclaiming the human experience, rediscovering the joy of
undistracted moments, and forging deeper, more meaningful connections in
our personal and professional lives. Let’s not be mere passengers in
the digital realm but thoughtful navigators, steering toward a balanced
and fulfilling existence.
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