10 ways your smartphone is ruining your life

the smartphone. Everyone has one these days. Most of them cannot live without these devices. Too bad we all love them so much. As we discussed earlier, it's almost as if we are living in the midst of a zombie plague on a smartphone.

If that were an option and we didn't ignore our phones every couple of years, we might just marry her. Why do we all use them so much, but are completely oblivious to the harm they can cause in our lives?

1- We don't have time to do anything anymore

Have you ever felt like you don't have time anymore? Like the world is too busy to keep up? How much do you use your smartphone?

We are all somewhat attached to our smartphones. These little devices are good at getting our attention, making sure they aren't too far from us, and making us come back often for any updates they might offer.

Perhaps our suffering and time management begins with all our smartphones. Constantly getting all these little updates from our phones and then waiting and hoping the next update releases a little bit of dopamine into our brains. It makes us happy and excited and keeps us coming back for more.

When looking for those hits of dopamine, we end up spending more time than we realize on our phones when we can pay attention to all those other things we don't seem to have time for.

2 - We can really be afraid of losing access to our phones

Nomophobia is the fear of losing access to our smartphones whether through empty batteries, losing a signal, or losing the entire phone. Research has revealed four main sources that fuel this fear: the inability to communicate, the loss of connectedness, the loss of access to information, and the loss of comfort.

Basically, we are addicted. Our phones allow us to reach our loved ones and get answers to all our questions. These devices also remove a lot of roadblocks anytime we want. The loss of these abilities leads to concerns. We are on our own.

I got serious. 38 percent of American teens surveyed said they don't think they can live one day without their smartphone. 71% said the same for about a week.

3 - Can we read the map or drive anywhere from memory?

When some of us need to travel somewhere we've never been before or somewhere we don't go often, our first step is to pull out our smartphones for step-by-step instructions. Long gone are the days of building a mind map from past experience and learning to find places through our sense of direction. Gone are the days of opening a paper map to plot a route to where we want to go.

Learning new ways and how to navigate on our own builds spatial maps in our brains. We understand the distances between places, where they are in relation to one another, and how to move from one place to another. We gain the ability to look at the world around us and effectively plan our actions.

Unfortunately, with step-by-step directions always available through our smartphones, these spatial maps are often not well built. We focus on our phones rather than interpreting the world around us. Since we know that trends will always be available to us in the future, we are unlikely to remember them on our own.

4 - Do we even remember the facts anymore?

How many times has this happened to you: You are with a group of people, and someone asks a question. Nobody knows the answer, so everyone takes out their smartphone to see who can find the answer first. Someone shout out, get citations for your best Google skills right now, everyone else move on. Within minutes, everyone is talking about a different topic and completely forgetting the answer to the previous question.

In the past, getting answers was a job. We needed to find an expert and make time for him, go to the library and read a book, or experiment and find out for ourselves. All this work left a lasting impression on our minds and made the answer hard to forget. These days, information is so easily obtained that finding it is no longer an adventure.

Where we used to rely on ourselves and those we have relationships with to remember things, we now have our smartphones with internet access to handle them for us.

However, what happens when we are separated from our smartphones and they are not there to help us when we need the information?

5- He has become the most valuable member of our family

Remember the days when you walked into a cell phone store, signed up for basic chat and text, and got a free phone? It seems those days are long gone. Now it's about telling us the latest gadget we can't live without and we'll be upgrading in a year.

Smartphones cost us dearly. On average, the price of a smartphone in North America is $567. Only for the phone. Remember, we need a nice phone case, crash insurance, chargers everywhere, and paid apps to make these phones more useful.

Phones are growing at a rate of about 12% per year. In 2008, the iPhone sold for $499, and at the end of 2018, the XS Max was selling for $1,099. If prices continue to move in that direction, we can expect to spend more than $5,000 on the iPhone 20 years from now.

Now let's talk about the service. The basic audio and text combination that we used to enjoy years ago will not be enough now. Now we also need unlimited data. All these apps we buy need data. We usually spend about $80 a month for this.

6 - Fomo

Besides Keeping Up With Jones, there is FOMO ("fear of missing out"). This is when we see people doing or getting something new or exciting. It's electric and we want to make it happen with everyone. There is a concern that if we don't do it now, the opportunity will be missed.

This anxiety can cause us to buy and accept debts only until we are included in the experience of acquiring this shiny new thing. Nowadays, digital technology through smartphones is constantly showing us shiny new things that we can be a part of. The people and companies that make these things really know how to make their products or services go viral.

All this can lead to reckless spending on unnecessary things. Then we get depressed when we see the next bright thing, but realize we can't borrow enough money to catch it anymore.

7 - Neighbors aren't just the people on our street anymore

Have you ever been on social media? Have you seen all the beautiful and wonderful moments that people post? All the places they visit and the cool toys they buy?

There is an old adage about the need to follow neighbors - traditionally those in our neighborhoods that we use as a social class standard that we want to maintain.

Neighbors have a new luxury car? What will people think of my 10 year old car with a little bit of rust seeping through the door? They're throwing an elaborate party for their kid, with a rubber castle? How do I make sure my kid doesn't consider me a loser at his next party if I can't stand it?

Unfortunately, smartphones and the internet in our neighborhoods have grown exponentially. Instead of just looking at our neighbors every time we leave or come home, our smartphones allow us to learn about the lives of hundreds of “friends” around the world.

Every time we open our phones we are greeted with new messages that show all the amazing things that are happening to people all over the world. Then we look up and see that our reality doesn't match what's on the phone. Unfortunately, it leads to debt, stress, and depression when we think we can't keep up with someone else.

8 - We can't actually talk to anyone these days

Since time immemorial, people have interacted with each other through face-to-face communication. Through the intimacy and bonding that this type of social contact produced, people were able to connect with each other and build strong relationships.

Over time, technology has become a medium in our conversations, whether through emails, text messages, logging out, or social media. In many cases, people no longer communicate directly with each other.

Smartphone use has been associated with loneliness and shyness in individuals. It's hard when you're alone and you feel like interacting with others, but you're too shy to go out and make these connections. A study of 414 students in China found that the more lonely and shy a person felt, the more likely they were to become addicted to their smartphone.

9 - Loved ones don't want to compete for our attention

This is called phone tethering. Focusing on our smartphones instead of entering into a romantic relationship with our loved ones is important. Our smartphones are meant to bring people together and make the world more connected.

But sometimes the wrong people can collect it at the wrong time. While we are busy communicating with co-workers, friends halfway around the world, or the unknown opponent we currently fear, we are far from the people in the same room as us.

When our loved ones want to connect with us but can't get us off our phones, they are not happy. If we can't give the people in our relationships the time and attention they deserve, they really hate it. Everyone's satisfaction is affected in relationships, and our loved ones are often jealous of our smartphones.

If this happens, our relationship will not be strong. Also, if we can't be away from our phones long enough to notice and fix these issues, how can our human relationships last? Before we know it, our relationships with our smartphones will be the only relationships we will have.

10 - When was the last time you slept a good night?

How many times have you gone to bed to pick up your phone and start checking news, emails or social media? Or maybe you want to get the last shot of that addictive game you found that day?

All these applications deprive us of our sleep. When we sleep, so should our phones. But this never happens. As we lie there, we hear the gentle siren call of this unassuming little device. Before we knew it, our smartphones took over and kept us entertained with information.

That's not all a smartphone does. No, it takes more than information. It needs a way to affect us and ward off tiredness and the night. By shining a little blue light on its screen, it can suppress melatonin and stimulate our brain. Now we no longer feel tired and we can pay more attention to our phones.

With all that extra focus, we can really get into this game and get some adrenaline pumping through our systems. Or we can read those emails and feel the pressure of our colleagues to tell us about the new nightmares that await us tomorrow.

Even when we're done using our phones, all that adrenaline or stress is making our minds too busy to even think about sleeping. So we get bored in bed. In the end, boredom is too intense so we go back to our smartphones. Before long, it's time to wake up and start another day.

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