We are all addicted to our phones

Sajal Choudhary -

It’s easier to see it in others, of course. One can have a holier than thou attitude.

You peasants! Spending time on socials. While, I, I am cognisant of how I spend my time and on what!

But here’s the thing, we are all addicted to our phones. The peasant and the nobleman alike.

Would Steve Jobs have envisioned this when he created the iPhone? Phones were not this addictive in the age of the blackberries and the Nokias. Is it the bigger, smoother screens or the faster Internet that enables all this entertainment? Or a potent cocktail of all these combined?

The smartest people of time are busy figuring out ways to make you spend more time inside an app. Of course we will lose. Of course.

None of this is news.

This addiction has a way of sneaking up on you though.

I am cognisant of how I use my phone.

Ideally, I use it like the tool that it is, using it to find directions when I need it, search for stuff, make notes, read, write. All the ‘productive’ stuff.

That’s not how I use my phone though. I do all the above, but I also pick it up in quiet moments. My brain has become so accustomed to the dopamine hit, to having the phone around, that just the thought of not going somewhere without my phone, fills me with dread, with withdrawal symptoms.

I want it on me. All. The. Time.

After reading Craig talk about his relationship with his phone, and how they try to manage that relationship. I too decided to use some of their techniques.

Again, none of this is new.

  1. I decided to keep the phone out of my bedroom.
  2. I decided to keep the phone out of my bathroom.

Reading on my phone in the morning, while I sit on the toilet is one of the greatest joys of life. It’s not good, of course.

I spend too much time on the toilet. I know. But it feels so damn good.

Anyway.

I had stuck to this decision for the past week. Today morning, I found myself reaching for the phone, justifying it to myself.

I smiled. And told myself, you’re an addict.

I left the phone on the table and freshened up.

There is no magic bullet. These things are so damn addictive. And we are mere humans.

We need to have systems in place, to let us be in control. And not the other way around.

Its important.