By Cindy Walker Burton
You are being held prisoner. Your prison cell is not 7×9 feet. It’s about 6×3 inches. It’s in your hand. You are looking at it. You are being held captive. You are a prisoner to your cell phone.
Phone prisoners are guilty of one or more of these cellular “charges”: shopping, cropping, broadcasting, email blasting, video clips, viewerships, video games, user names, FaceTime, Amazon Prime, online banking, online ranking, Instagram, spam, TikToking, blocking, Snapchat, chit chat, tweeting, deleting, downloading, coding, swiping, typing, scrolling, trolling, blogging, vlogging, podcasting, broadcasting, streaming, meme-ing, texting, sexting, posting, ghosting, taking pics, watching flicks, using apps, Google maps, chatting, formatting, searching, merching, merging, purging. Are you a prisoner to your cell phone?
Owning a cell phone means having the world at your fingertips. Anything and everything is accessible upon your command. Cells grant unlimited wishes: instant gratification, conversation, deliberation, affiliation, inspiration, identification, stimulation, education, information, etc. Cells offer ships: friendship, authorship, membership, listenership, viewership, ownership, censorship, companionship, relationships, worship. Cells wield the power to: make/break, harm/heal, unite/divide, encourage/discourage, create/decimate, promote/demote, serve/disserve. All of that infinite power (and awesome responsibility) is controlled by you, BUT does your cell control you? Are you a prisoner to your cell phone?
Are you serving a life sentence of staring at your phone screen? According to A.I., we look at our screens over 100 times daily and use our cells 4 to 6 hours daily. That equals 73-80 days per year looking at a phone screen! Gen Z (ages 14-29) has the highest daily cell usage (6+ hours) while we Baby Boomers (ages 62-80) average 2-3.5 hours daily.
The following info is from Wikipedia and A.I. The tech term for cell phone addiction is PSU (problematic smartphone use). Anxiety from not having your phone is called nomophobia (no mobile phone phobia). Living in a state of constant phone use is called cell hell (I coined that one). Now pay attention cell phone hostages! Excessive cell phone use adversely affects your physical and mental health: poor sleep, sore eyes, painful neck, reduced range of motion, wrist pain, muscle fatigue, muscle spasms, headaches, weight gain, short attention span, brain drain, sadness, stress, isolation, and diminished social skills. Long term effects can include pinched nerves, disc compression, and postural changes. Excessive use can also adversely affect others. The National Safety Council notes cell phones cause 1.6 million vehicle crashes annually. Government data shows that thousands of injuries and deaths are caused by distracted driving. Are you a prisoner of your cell phone?
How can you escape cell hell? How can you be freed from cell phone incarceration? Try these suggestions found on becomingminimalist.com:
1. Go grayscale (ditch vibrant colors).
2. No phone use while driving or dining.
3. Hide time wasters (like social media apps and games).
4. Establish no phone zones.
5. Turn off notifications (except texts and calls).
6. Put your phone down.
Own your phone – don’t let it own you. Break the spell of your cell. Being a prisoner to your cell phone is not a life sentence. Freedom can be found if you put your phone down.
