3 Ways Smartphones Can Wreck Sanity, Productivity And Focus Among Users
Many smartphones may wreck our sanity. As we use our smartphones for many things like knowing where we are, listening to music, watching films, checking our health, paying our bills, ordering our food, cooking, and the list is endless. All these we share to our connected circles. How addicted have we become to our mobiles.
According to IBM, "the average mobile phone user checks their phone 150 times per day" and "80% of the apps are used once, then deleted." Even more interesting is "this year, worldwide mobile payment transactions exceeded $235 billion."
Check this out from Drake Baer in a post on Business Insider:
1. Overusage of phones at night can make us less productive the next day
Overusage of our phone during the night will make us tired and less productive the next day. While at home, workers are still connected to their jobs and phones. They check their phones while cooking dinner to ensure the boss does not need anything. Or email colleagues while in bed.
Many smartphone owners consider the devices as a tool to increase productivity. But the National Sleep Foundation shared only 40 percent of Americans get enough rest and the culprit is smartphone usage for work. They make it difficult for people to detach from work, relax and fall asleep.
2. Switching between phone and other screens makes us dumb
Some studies indicated certain computer tasks, such as playing games can improve visual literacy skills, as it increases the ability to shift focus on icons and images on screens. But other studies cited fast shift of focus can result to more automatic thinking. When we are often distracted when online, our brains will not be able to forge strong neural connections that give depth uniqueness in our thinking. Researchers found if you multitask often, your brain will be used to process more information at once and you lose the ability to concentrate.
3. When we cannot detach from colleagues
Psychologists emphasize how vital detachment is for our mental health and productivity. Career should be well-divided wherein you have a clear distinction between working and personal hours. Having co-workers who just cannot detach from you by chatting with you for a long time during the night is unhealthy. You feel obliged to chat back. But they cannot detach unless you detach. Thus, initiating detachment is needed at times.