It’s not something that we are eager to admit. Being addicted to anything is something we all try to avoid. But that’s the tricky thing with addiction. Nobody starts out planning to become addicted. One thing leads to another and before we know it, we are bound in addiction. So what can you do if you are addicted to your phone?
Firstly, let’s look at some warning signs that you may be addicted to your phone:
You reach for it whenever you get a notification
You can read articles online that will tell you that getting a notification on your phone stimulates the reward centre in your brain. Notifications make us feel wanted and needed. They make us feel popular. So what can you do to combat this? Turn off your notifications. That way you can control when you check your phone.
You check social media whenever you have a free moment
I’m not necessarily against social media but I will say this; it has been proven to be addictive. Can you sit through dinner without going on Instagram or Facebook? Is it the first thing you check when you open your eyes in the morning? A thought struck me this week. Say you have 500 friends on Facebook. Scrolling through your News Feed and reading up to 500 people updates would be like talking to 500 people in the span of 30 minutes. No wonder we feel so drained and tired after being on social media. When you look at it that way, you begin to see that madness that has us so addicted to our phones.
Perhaps you can consider taking a break from social media. Take a step back and evaluate what you use it for. Does it fulfill some kind of longing for acceptance or validation in your life? Do you use it just to stay in touch with people? If so, have a think about just how many people lives you need to be actively involved in.
I do agree that social media can be a great platform for business networking and so on but sadly, our phones can become addictive if we are not careful.
If you feel you may be addicted to your phone and need some help in this area, we would be more than happy to pray with you. Simply click on the pop up banner or on the link.