Stuff Digital Edition

Ditch the phone

E are a i t o ste in into o r own itt e wor s when we ha e techno o in o r han s b t Niki Bezzant sa s that there are times when it’s better to switch off.

We love our smartphones, and the data proves it. According to a report released in April from mobile analytics company App Annie, global consumers (with Android phones) spend an average of 4.2 hours a day using apps on their smartphones.

Our phones might not love us back, though. Catherine Price, author of How To Break Up With Your Phone, says many of our favourite apps are designed to hijack our attention and steal our time, all to make money for their creators.

“The more time you spend on Facebook or its other apps [WhatsApp and Instagram], the more time there is for Facebook to show you ads, and to gather data about you, so it can serve you ever more targeted ads,” Price told Dominic Bowden in an interview for his Wellbeings podcast.

“So every moment you spend on an app like that is a minute you’re spending making money for somebody else.”

Most of us won’t love that idea, or the feeling we might have that we may be addicted to that little screen in our pockets. Price wants us to take back control, and “create an intentional relationship with technology”.

Here are four situations when research proves we will be better off without our phones within reach.

Reading

Picking up a paper book, newspaper or magazine might do us more good than reading on our phones.

While we might feel we’re reading more than ever, if we have switched to a small screen rather than a paper book, chances are we are not taking in as much of what we are reading, or enjoying it as much as we would if we were reading a physical book.

The 2019 Read NZ Te Pou Muramura Reading in a Digital Age report found 44 per cent of readers said they found it harder to read long and challenging content than they had in the past.

They also reported being able to concentrate less on content when it was on a screen.

Overseas, several small studies suggest reading on paper rather than a screen is better for memory retention and focus.

Eating (together)

There’s growing evidence that families who share mealtimes together, ideally sitting around a table, have better health outcomes. Children whose families do this, eat more vegetables, have better overall diets, and tend to have better mental health.

And mealtimes are a good time to share and reconnect with each other. That can go out the window, though, if phones are on the table. Several studies have found a link between smartphone use during mealtimes and the consumption of more calories, especially in young people.

Price says we’re in the habit now of having phones at the table.

“We don’t have any kind of etiquette about having phones out so there are very few boundaries,” she told Bowden.

Making the dinner table a no-phone zone could be a step towards better relationships and better health.

Exercising

Scrolling social media triggers a dopamine response in our brains, just like slot machines do.

Price says many apps are designed to behave like slot machines, to just that end; it’s why we find them so hard to put down.

But there’s another thing that gives our happy hormones a boost: exercise. Moving our bodies can lift dopamine and serotonin levels. There is plenty of evidence that it can help stave off depression and anxiety, too.

And leaving the phone in the locker or at home when you work out means you are going to move more mindfully and not get distracted.

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2021-12-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-01T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/282497186941817

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