There is no doubt that we are addicted to our cell phones.
In fact, another study was released last week that says seven in 10 Millennials keep their smartphone within five feet of themselves at all times. Think of how
many people sleep with their phones. Or how many apps you receive push
notifications for. Or how prevalent text messaging is to our daily lives,
compared to what it was 10 years ago.
This past year of grad school, which was probably the most
stressful school year of life in some capacities, was the first entire school
year where I owned a smartphone. I upgraded to the iPhone a semester earlier,
and was starting to adapt to the lifestyle of push notifications, iMessaging
group MMS text conversations, email being right there and always being the
owner of a GPS. Now, it was engrained into my daily routine. I woke up every
morning at nearly 7 a.m. to my phone alarm and read email on my phone, mentally
crafted a response, and typed them up on my computer an hour later when I was
more awake. If I was making dinner and heard the email vibrate sound on my
phone (which I only received from my school account), I immediately stopped and
went to check what it was. It was so bad that if the phone rang while I was in
the shower, I would get out to answer it so there would not be another item on
my to do list to call that person back. I’m not kidding.
All of these habits caused what I think of as phone anxiety. I was anxious to receive
answers to texts and emails, watching the “…” typing message or read receipts
like a hawk. When I was driving and the
texting sound came through, I immediately had to check what it was and take the
proper action, as unsafe as it is.
The noticeable difference in this phone anxiety came when I
found my heart rate at a higher and higher rate over the pure sound of my
phone. Hearing the vibrate buzz, Twitter ding or text/voicemail ring, my heart
rate paced until I saw what the notification was. And rather than being an
invigorating, exciting type of stress to see the message, it seemed unhealthy, dangerous
and a burden. Societal expectations have placed pressure to respond or take
action immediately, growing our impatience on both the sending and receiving
end.
So now that school is over and I’m not being called to
assistantships, campus activities or academic questions that might require
immediate responses more so than other things, I’m trying the experiment of inviting media into my life. Living
life first, and consuming mobile media second. By taking the vibrate sound off
of my phone, and turning the ringtone off while I’m driving or getting
important work done—I’m in control of when I do or don’t want to check what’s
going on, hold a text conversation or respond to emails or Facebook messages.
Instead of hearing the ding, moving away from my resting
heart rate and getting incredibly anxious, I can CHOOSE when to check and
respond to everything. Sure, phones are intended for immediate communication
when they ring and we all know how much I like to talk on the phone, but with
so many mobile applications and social outlets calling our attention, I don’t
want to get so engrained in those that I don’t realize what is going on right
in front of me, or what other things I could be doing. I like to think I’ve
been doing this for a while by never letting Facebook or Instagram send push
notifications, but there is always room for improvement.
So wish me luck as I turn my phone on silent and check my
phone when it’s the right time, sound like a plan?
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