4 Reasons to Put Your Phone Away

Our phones are an amazing piece of technology that can help us with a wide variety of tasks. Regardless of whether you want to play a game, connect with friends, or search for Los Angeles homes for sale, your phone can do it. In fact, your phone can do just about everything, which has led to an over-reliance on mobile devices for many people. Unfortunately, using your phone too much has many negative side effects, and it's in your best interest to limit the amount of time you actually spend on your mobile device. So what exactly is so bad about using your phone too much, and how does it affect you? Here are four reasons why you should put your phone away.

Toxicity of Social Media

One of the main reasons you should use your phone less is due to the toxicity of social media. Although social media has some benefits, like allowing you to communicate easily with friends and family, it also has its drawbacks. Social media allows you to track almost everything about a person’s life, which can be very unhealthy. Many people compare their own lives to what they see on social media, leading to jealousy, confidence issues, and feelings of inferiority. Many people only post the glamorous side of their lives on social media, meaning it's very easy to look at someone’s social media page and believe that their life is much better than it actually is. Putting your phone down and stepping away from social media can be great for your mental health, allowing you to focus on your own life rather than comparing it to others.

Decreased Attention Span

A huge reason why you should use your phone less is due to decreased concentration and attention span. Phones are fantastic sources of entertainment, whether you’re using them to search the web, browse social media, or to watch a YouTube video. Although this can be great when you have free time, it can be extremely detrimental when you need to get work done. If you’re someone who uses their phone too much, you may find it difficult to concentrate and get work done. Over time your attention span will be slowly whittled down, and you’ll constantly be checking your phone while trying to concentrate on work. This will make your work take much longer to be completed, and since you’re distracted, the quality of your work will likely decrease as well. Phones can be great to fill free time, but you definitely need to put your phone away if it becomes too big of a distraction.

Sleep Problems

Another reason why you should use your phone less is due to how electronic devices can mess with your sleep schedule. If you find yourself using your phone too much, then you’ll likely have problems falling asleep at night. Studies have shown that exposure to blue light from electronic devices can block melatonin production. Melatonin is a vital hormone in relation to sleep, and without it, you’ll have a much tougher time getting rest. Additionally, you may find it difficult to fall asleep directly after getting off of your phone for other reasons as well. For example, if you watch a thrilling episode of your favorite show on your phone before you go to bed, then you may be too excited to fall asleep. As a result, you should put your phone up at least an hour before you go to bed, something that can greatly improve the quality of your sleep.

Fear of Missing Out

When you’re always on your phone, you are likely to get something known as fear of missing out, also known as “FOMO.” For many of us, our phones are our best connection to the world, so we always want to be on them to see what's going on. When you use your phone too much, you might think that when you put your phone down, you’ll miss a huge news story breaking or miss some form of social invite. This type of thinking can be extremely exhausting and draining, as this fear will eventually control your life. However, once you realize that you can put your phone down and disconnect from the world for a bit, you’ll notice your stress and anxiety levels will greatly decrease.