Fighting Smartphone addiction problems? Have you made a New Year resolution to overcome it and be the addiction free? And are you not confident, in fact worried about its success? Indiainput.com talks to de-addiction expert Dr Pritam Chandak and gets you key tips to succeed.
By India Input Desk
The New Year brings hopes, dreams, aspirations and offcourse, the New Year Resolutions. Especially, if you want to fight out any of your addictions, if any. Like, boozing, smoking, or the most common among them all, the smartphone addiction.
But, this year, www.indiainput.com has plans to help you emerge victorious about your New Year resolution. Bringing to you, scientifically proven effective ways straight from expert on the topic, Dr Pritam Omprakash Chandak.
He is a consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist with MBBS, M.D (Psychiatry), MIPS, M.APA (USA), M.IACAM (INDIA) and Clinical Fellow (Child Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bengaluru).
Excerpts from the conversation :
What is an addiction ?
‘An addiction is when the thing- a habit or a regular / frequent behavioural aspect- you are addicted to, begins to control your life and interferes with your daily activities, work, and relationships. With the boom in technology, the signs of addiction can also be found in the form of cell phones or smartphones.’
How to find out a smartphone addiction?
‘It’s easy to find out. And most common these days. You may be addicted to your smartphone if :
- If you find yourself checking your phone first thing in the morning—before even getting out of bed.
- If you find you’re text-messaging while driving or talking t somebody important.
- If you find yourself checking your phone instead of working on an important assignment, or checking a Social media platform viz. Facebook, during a romantic dinner.
- Are you constantly staring at your cell phone? And do you feel uneasy, uncomfortable if not able to?’
‘There can be several such instances. Your reply, in affirmative, means your phone is interfering with your daily life and you are addicted. And you’re missing out on living a fulfilled and rich life due to the addiction. Worse, this can have undesirable consequences. Even freak accidents. People have lost lives talking on smartphone while crossing road or on a rooftop or takinga selfie while standing near a cliff or near water.’
‘Would you want to dwell more on the possible consequences,’ we ask.
‘No,’ Dr Pritam insists, -‘these are aplenty and can be very disturbing and upsetting. My idea is, -let’s not discuss these at the beginning of the New Year. Let’s discuss solutions.’
So, How to get de addicted from your Smartphone?
Dr Pritam Chandak suggests the following 6 tips to manage your phone addiction. Here you go :
1. The first 30 minutes of your day
‘If you find yourself waking up in the morning reaching to check in with your phone before you even got out of bed, this is a serious problem. Once you wake up, the first 30 minutes should be dedicated to creating a good start to your day. This means, getting out of bed, freshening up, taking 5 minutes to meditate and stretch and preparing a healthy breakfast. Start your day doing healthy, positive things to build your inner fortitude to take on the day ahead. If you want to get over the addiction, you must begin your day by staying away from your smartphone. So, no smartphone for the first half an hour, after you wake up. Every day. No let ups.’
2. Create No-Phone Time Zones
‘This is absolutely necessary,’ says Dr Pritam, – ‘The truth of the matter is, having a cell phone close by, at work, is common. Sometimes it is even required. Whether the necessity of your phone is work-related or not—that specific phone alert is rarely related to the current work at hand. If you are constantly getting distracted by your phone going off—you won’t remain focused on the work in front of you, decreasing productivity.’
Thats why Dr Pritam insists that we must create a ‘no phone time-zone’. Yes, you read it right. A No Phone Time zone. Says him, -‘This means, for at least 2 hours of your day (when your most productive work happens) you close off your phone and stay completely dedicated to the work in front of you. Just shut yourself off from the smartphone. As if the cute, expensive gadget just didn’t exist.’
3. Don’t Lose Sleep Over It
‘If you find yourself up late at night playing on your phone, whether it is video games, any socialmedia platform like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, plain chatting or text messaging, or watching videos.. you are losing peace of mind and your precious sleep over this devious addiction. The moment you stop putting energy into caring for your basic needs and instead, pour your mind, time and energy into your phone, you are allowing the phone to control and even dictate your life, your health and well-being.’
If you catch yourself in this scenario, Dr Pritam Chandak’s advice is to power off your phone an hour before bed time. According to him,-‘This is to ensure that your last hour is spent in a meaningful way.’
‘Isn’t it simple?’
‘Yes, it is,’ says Dr Pritam,- ‘And that you get to bed on time to start the next day afresh.’
His golden advice,- ‘Just consider your life, the next day in your life and the importance of a peaceful sleep in your life. You will find, your phone is just not worth losing sleep over.’
4. Remove those excess apps
Dr Pritam insists to remind ourself that checking social media notifications now and then is the biggest wastage of our invaluable time. In his words, -‘Having instant ’round the clock access’ to Facebook is as superfluous as a nipple on my elbow. As a wise man on the Internet once said, Facebook is like the fridge—you check it every 15 minutes, even though you know nothing’s there. By eliminating time-wasters and attention suckers, you can rid yourself of the urge to draw your smartphone from your pocket every three minutes out of pure impulse.’
5. Turn off (or customize) notifications
‘It only makes you more apt to whip out your phone and get nose-deep in a vicious tech circle of texting, email checking, chatting and lord knows what else. You can disable in-app notifications in your main settings menu (under the App section), or customize them for only the important stuff.’
‘As far as calls and texts go, one viable solution I’ve been using is, setting custom vibrations for certain people,’ suggests Dr Pritam,- ‘You can make your own custom vibes by selecting a contact, then the “Vibration” option, underneath “Ringtone.” This will save your time. And a time saved is time earned,’ he says with a chuckle.
6. Get Real
‘When you are with a real life person sharing a conversation, a meal, or a cup of coffee, they are a real life form. Real living beings. A real person right there in front of you to engage with. Are you telling me that your virtual friends and virtual text conversations are more important than the real life person in front of you or by your side?’
‘Not only is this the rudest thing on the planet, but it breaks down friendships and can ruin relationships,’ reminds Dr Pritam Chandak.
His plan for us, -‘Please write down these six tips on a paper and paste it on your table, so that it is always visible. And, keep reminding yourself all the day.’
If the plan still doesn’t work out, he can be contacted on : drpritamchandak@gmail.com
(illustration images: pexels.com)
