Want a better life? Turn off your phone!
Disconnecting from technology is a hot topic nowadays, and for good reason! The 24/7 digital life is a very recent phenomenon when you consider life in generations and decades; we haven’t been a smartphone as standard world since around 2009 when the very first popular models flooded the market.
The fact that we are always at the beck and call of our friends, family and work colleagues influences our lives. If you’re rolling your eyes at the thought of switching off, keep reading.
There’s more to it than you might first think, and today the Citrus team is dropping that knowledge right here for you to read. Scroll on!
Your mood will improve
Studies have concluded that teenage use of mobile phones at night is having a negative impact on their mental health. The researchers found that this trend for late-night binges before falling into an exhausted sleep is contributing to increased rates of depression and anxiety in the younger generation.
It’s easy to see why; teenagers more than any other demographic need sleep to grow and be healthy. Jeopardising this by staying on your phone until you can’t keep your eyes open anymore cuts down the hours leading to proper deep sleep considerably.
While adults don’t need as much sleep, as a rule, we can all relate to this. Most of us are guilty! Years of life have taught us all the value of turning off devices and drifting into sleep; it leads to a better feeling of wakefulness in the morning when compared to blearily turning the light off at 2am after a small-screen Facebook binge.
Whatever your age, this study confirms a point that is relevant to you. Setting a boundary for all devices before sleep will help you lead a better life. Consider the need for a winding down period where you at best read a book before pulling up the covers fully.
Your productivity will skyrocket
As any working professional knows, the bane of productivity is an interruption. It’s become such an issue in modern workplaces that many companies now operate a no meetings policy in parts of the day or week in a bid to get more done.
On an individual level, the smartphone is a great comparison. Work is rarely done in a smooth, straight line. We have peaks of focus that usually appear after we have been sitting at our desks and working at a task for some time. These are powerful flashes of activity, but they are also fragile.
By removing the smartphone from your world during planned periods of work, you’ll be increasing the likelihood that you will achieve a high level of focus. You’ll also be increasing the chances that you’ll make good use of it before you are pulled away elsewhere!
This point is particularly important for the chronically busy worker. While it can seem like you’re on top of things when you juggle a million tasks and conversations at once, the reality of the situation is often different. Our minds are limited in certain ways and we are simply built to focus on one thing at a time if we want to get the job done.
You’ll know a true emergency when it comes
A lamentable problem with our ever-connected world is that we are flooded with notifications every day. We naturally respond to these quickly, curious as to what they are about. Without thinking about it, we interrupt ourselves to address the latest item to pay attention to.
This can be bad for you. By turning off your smartphone now and then, you’ll be peppered less by messages and emails that can wait until tomorrow. Learning to delay responses and truly prioritise can be very positive for your working life, but it can also teach you to appreciate serious situations as and when they arise.
Learning to understand the differences in your focus, capability and perception of the world around you is important to all of us. Try turning your phone off for a day each week and see for yourself how your life changes!