I initially banned all electronics from my bedroom in my new house- no laptop, no phone, no TV, no computer, no digital alarm clock. Its a rule I have tried to keep in most of my houses.
Until my Iphone!
Because of its function as an alarm clock it now sleeps next to me when I sleep. This is the same phone I now check email on before I get out of bed, the same one that I use to pace me when I run, the same one I use to text, skype, check in to flights, buy things, do my banking, take photos and listen to music.
You get the picture.
Associated Press reports that "Psychologists and others are concerned about another equally troubling issue: the growing obsession among people who would much rather interact with their smartphones than with other human beings."
Have a look around you. On the subway/commuter train/bus/streetcar/ferry, in coffeeshops, offices, lectures and family dinner tables. I used to have another rule: "no phones on the table at a meal". Last week, I went out to dinner with five friends. We all had our phones out! We were comparing apps, showing each other photos
We also use phones to avoid others. There is even a Facebook page Pretending-To-Be-On-The-Phone-To-Avoid-Someone!
Associated Press refers to "Michelle Hackman, a recent high school graduate in Long Island, New York, won a $US75,000 prize in this year's Intel Science Talent Search with a research project investigating teens' attachment to their mobile phones. She found that students separated from their phones were under-stimulated — a low heart rate was an indicator — and lacked the ability to entertain themselves."
My third rule is an electronics Sabbath - no electronics one day a week. At times, even this gets stretched. Going to the footy and not getting the commentary and scores via the phone from friends and media outlets is too hard!
These phones are new.
What rules do you have/need to have to manage the ubiquitous nature of these phones:
Because of its function as an alarm clock it now sleeps next to me when I sleep. This is the same phone I now check email on before I get out of bed, the same one that I use to pace me when I run, the same one I use to text, skype, check in to flights, buy things, do my banking, take photos and listen to music.
You get the picture.
Associated Press reports that "Psychologists and others are concerned about another equally troubling issue: the growing obsession among people who would much rather interact with their smartphones than with other human beings."
Have a look around you. On the subway/commuter train/bus/streetcar/ferry, in coffeeshops, offices, lectures and family dinner tables. I used to have another rule: "no phones on the table at a meal". Last week, I went out to dinner with five friends. We all had our phones out! We were comparing apps, showing each other photos
We also use phones to avoid others. There is even a Facebook page Pretending-To-Be-On-The-Phone-To-Avoid-Someone!
Associated Press refers to "Michelle Hackman, a recent high school graduate in Long Island, New York, won a $US75,000 prize in this year's Intel Science Talent Search with a research project investigating teens' attachment to their mobile phones. She found that students separated from their phones were under-stimulated — a low heart rate was an indicator — and lacked the ability to entertain themselves."
My third rule is an electronics Sabbath - no electronics one day a week. At times, even this gets stretched. Going to the footy and not getting the commentary and scores via the phone from friends and media outlets is too hard!
These phones are new.
What rules do you have/need to have to manage the ubiquitous nature of these phones:
- for yourself?
- your workplace (amazed at how many train drivers I have seen looking at their phones as they travel along)
- your home?
I like your post. Thanks for flaunt.
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