Digital Detox: How to fight cell phone addiction?

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88 times! That’s how often we reach for our smartphones every day, according to researchers at the University of Bonn. We unlock the device, check emails, check social media and read the news 53 times. I wish Kim Kardashian had lost weight recently to find out. At the trolley stop, on the train, at the cafe: everywhere, potentially grieving people stare at screens immersed in thought, busy filling themselves with information. Or poisoning if you take literally the counter-movement that is now mobilizing.

digital detox

The name of the new trend is “Digital Detox”. Unplug for a while, turn it off, turn it off. The idea is not new. The first conference on the subject took place in Zurich in 2016. Leading Simon Künzler, Managing Director of marketing agency Xeit, appropriately had all attendees hand over their mobile phones at the entrance. “As a result, people were very concentrated during the presentations and there were great discussions,” says Künzler. He also has personal experience with “digital detox” – he spent seven weeks without a smartphone in Sweden. “It was wonderful, enriching and energizing.”

Digital networking quenches the core longing for connectivity

Less online, more life? In the book “Digital Detox”. How can you live comfortably with mobile phones and the like?», literary scholar Daniela Otto describes how the digital network landscape addresses primitive aspirations for connection. That’s why we let them take over us and are always available, but they’re never really “there”.

Being available at all times can promote mental illness

Too much cell phone use has been proven to have negative health consequences. Myopia, “phone neck”, trouble falling asleep – the list is long. Continuous availability is considered a beneficial element, especially for stress, burnout, and depression. It prevents you from closing inside and getting distance. A short-term renunciation brings nothing in terms of health, unlike sensible behavior in everyday life.

Self test: Am I addicted to my cell phone?

A life without a smartphone is now unthinkable for young people today. But as figures from a new survey show, even older generations can no longer do without it. Our self-test* shows if there is anything to worry about. If you answer yes to eight of the questions below, you run the risk of being overly influenced or immersed in cell phone use.

1. I often spend more time on my cell phone than I really want.
2. If I don’t have my cell phone with me, I miss it.
3. Important people around me complain that I spend too much time on my cell phone.
4. Because of my cell phone use, I hang out with less people than before.
5. I’ve tried several times to no avail to spend less time on my cell phone.
6. My performance at school or work suffers from my cell phone use.
7. When I’m sad, lonely, angry or frustrated, I do things on my phone to distract myself.
8. I often neglect my work to spend more time on my phone.
9. If I can’t look at my cell phone for a long time, I become restless and nervous.
10. I need to stay on my cell phone more often or longer to feel good or comfortable again.
11. It’s hard for me to honestly tell others how much time I spend on my phone.

Caution: Automated tests only give hints. Whether someone is addicted or not cannot be assessed with this test alone. In a conversation with a doctor or psychologist, a diagnosis can be made and possible treatment options can be shown.

This is how you can free yourself from the clutches of your mobile phone.

1. Be aware of “Damage”! Measure how long you stay on the phone. Either with a stopwatch or, more simply, with electronic assistance such as “screen time”.
2. No color, just gray: make your mobile phone boring. You can remove all colors from phone settings. Surfing is less exciting then, photos of the posing on Facebook are no longer as glamorous as they used to be, and food porn is no longer so enviable. Everything becomes more boring, so you are less seduced. On iPhone it works like this: Settings/General/Accessibility/Display settings/Color filter «On».
3. Create cell phone-free times: Don’t take your cell phone into your bedroom at night – get an alarm clock if needed. Silence your cell phone while eating. The same applies to walks and nature walks. Just leave your cell phone at home.
4. Turn off your cell phone for an extra hour. So that you can understand once again that the world does not end without a mobile phone.
5. The kiosk also has news: even mostly well researched and journalistic high-quality articles.

*_{Source: Prevention of addiction in the canton of Zurich in collaboration with Franz Eidenbenz.}

Source : Blick