Smartphone junkies
Has checking for text messages on your smartphone in the middle of the night become natural for you? Do you find yourself not being able to go five minutes without checking your inbox? Do you find it difficult to sleep or do anything without your smartphone by your side or atleast at an arm's grab away? Do you find yourself looking for apps in everything you do? If so, you are welcome to the new breed of smartphone addicts. The good news is, you are not alone in this hyper-connected world. Experts say that as many as 6 percent of smartphone users could be termed addicts. According to a Rutgers University study, being addicted to your Blackberry is similar to being addicted to drugs. No wonder the device was coined "crackberry." It's a tough habit to break. The trend has caught up among the young generation in Bangladesh too. Teenagers texting away on their smartphones is becoming a common sight. "It pretty much lives in my hand", says an obsessed fan. According to David Greenfield, PhD, a West Hartford, Connecticut, based psychologist, computer technologies can be addictive because they're "psychoactive"; they alter mood and often trigger enjoyable feelings. Email, in particular, gives us satisfaction due to what psychologists call "variable ratio reinforcement." That is, we never know when we'll get a satisfying email, so we keep checking, over and over again. "It's like slot machines," Greenfield says. "We're seeking that pleasurable hit." And smartphones, they of course, allow us to go to the inbox feeding trough anytime and anywhere. It's very difficult to ignore a piece of technology when it's beeping or vibrating at you. It's insisting you give it attention and a lot of people feel drawn to instantly respond, even if they know the incoming phone call, email, or message is likely nothing important. Many argue that the smartphone helps them stay on top of political and current news all the time. Many more find it convenient in letting them to stay in touch with work even when they're taking a lunch break at a fancy café or are traveling abroad. There's a whole host of these people who depend on these modern "Swiss Army knives" for everything from planning schedules, finding entertainment, managing our social networks and yes, making calls too. There are serious question about what these gadgets may be doing to our brains. Some researchers say intense multitasking degrades a person's ability to focus deeply, think creatively and, in the end, be more productive. Smartphones are among the technologies promoting this mode of thinking, where people toggle continually between streams of information. A 2009 Stanford University research study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that multitaskers -- those who try to view two or more types of media simultaneously -- are more easily distracted. "They're suckers for irrelevancy," Stanford professor Clifford Nass said in a written statement about the study, which examined 262 university students. "Everything distracts them." The real and more immediate concern, though, is how these phones have started affecting their users' relationships and family life. Many don't realise that text messaging your friend during an intimate dinner with your spouse is just the same as physically having the friend sit right in the middle and talk. It is equally rude and screams out the message "you are not important". These little screens have the power to suck you into its world. Without even realising it, you come back to reality to find that you haven't even said a word to your spouse in the past half hour. Very soon you find it taking over your life. So now it's time to take control. First step is to admit to yourself that your phone is managing you and not the other way round. Once you confess there's an issue, then you can deal with it. Now work out your daily schedule to allot certain 'smartphone-free' hours, or even better, set specific time slots, wherein you will check your mails and reply to them and try to stick to it. Don't get tempted to check your mail at other times, unless you are expecting a really important mail. Make sure you inform your friends and colleagues about this too, so that don't wonder why they didn't get the instant response that they're used to. Avoid using your smartphones while working out, at a party, going to mosque and on vacations. It kills the purpose of these events. With all that text-messaging, don't forget that the phone's main function making calls. General rule of thumb is, if it takes more than four exchanges, the subject should be discussed over the phone. Let new messages pile up in your inbox. Then devote time to responding to each one. Frequently a steady line of thinking is interrupted by a new message notice. Try not to check email first thing in the morning. It can wait until you get to work. Lastly, resist the temptation to use your phone in the middle of the night by not taking it to bed. Many people nowadays use their mobile phone's alarm function to wake them up. But if the temptation seems to be disturbing your steady sleep, buy an alarm clock instead. It is most important to remember that you are the master, not the slave.
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