You Phone is Not your Friend

Some might panic after reading the title to this but its safe to read on. Just the thought of having to put your phone down might cause you some panic and that it the reason why it is not your friend.

Would you continue hanging around someone who causes you pain?

I wouldn’t and that’s why I decided to limit my time on my phone and other electronic devices. Hard to do as a writer but I make it work.

I’m not saying we should go back to the stone age, but I think there should be limits to how we use technology and how long we use it.

Don’t sleep with your phone

Like most millennials I sleep with my phone next to me but not when I never to get up in the morning.

The back light tends to keep us up and every time it buzzes, I feel like I must check it.

Try keeping it in another room. You will fall asleep faster and wake up more refreshed. There’s night where I’ve out mine on silent and thrown it across the room and it wasn’t out of frustration. It was because I didn’t want to be distracted by it all night.

This helps me get up too.

On nights I know I need to get up, I set multiple alarms on my phone and place it across the room, upside down.

Now, its not a distraction and when the alarm goes off, I have to get out of bed to turn it off. Killing two birds with one stone.

Breathe before scrolling

It’s simply but most people don’t do it.

Take a deep breath before scrolling through your phone. You will feel more relaxed which will lead to better decisions.

Your phone can make you anxious or depressed depending on what you see. Deep breathing is one way to relieve stress from situations like this.

American’s check their phones 86 times per day on average. Imagine what it would be like to have 86 breaths a day.

You would be much more relaxed throughout the day and its simply to do. We could stay off our phones but that’s easier said than done.

Just the scrolling can cause anxiety because you scroll so fast you think you went past something and have to go back and check.

Now you’re freaking out because you thought you missed something. Not good.

Don’t follow everyone

Social media makes it easy to connect with people but you need to follow the right accounts.

Just because you like cats doesn’t mean you should follow everyone with a cat on Instagram. There’s so many I’m not sure that’s possible.

Follow people who can agree with your point of view. However, avoid following accounts that can make you feel inadequate. There are people on social media platforms that can trigger negative feelings.

In today’s world, it’s easy to lose your cool after reading someone’s opinion. Stay calm and collected by unfollowing those who make you feel like everything sucks.

Social media isn’t reality, but it can trap you into thinking it is.

Find What makes your day

It doesn’t have to take long, and it doesn't have to be difficult. Something as small as the smell of a fresh cup of coffee can make your day but to make it great you have to put in a little effort.

Part of a good day means you had to think about something. For most of us, are days are filled with simple tasks like taking the trash out or going to the grocery store.

These things don’t make us think. Leave a book in the bathroom on a topic that interests you and read a page when in there.

Those five minutes could be the best part of your day.

It’s a shame that technology has made life easier for us. Now we have less opportunities to experience what life has to give us.

Make time to think about something. Ask that difficult question and see if anyone has an answer. You may be surprised at what you hear.

You could go into a forum and have these conversations but there is no human interaction there. That is part of the human experience in life.

Final Thoughts

In the past technology is what helped us evolve but now it seems to be causing us to go backwards. Add on the increasing number of people who are depressed or anxious and we have a major problem.

Let take our lives back by implementing certain rules to insure we are not hurt by what it supposed to being helping us.

It may be easy to hear a lot of different voices on social media but you need to find the one the you agree with the most and doesn’t make you feel bad.

It can be entertaining going on twitter but if we don’t limit our use it may cause problems for us in the future.