Is nomophobia a present-day affliction?
The smartphone is an extremely powerful communication tool. It does, however, cause ill effects to some people, such as nomophobia. This modern addiction calls for serious reflection, as it is somewhat of a paradox. How can a technology, that wasn’t even here two decades ago, change our daily lives to a point where its absence is a source of stress?
Curing nomophobia.
Nomophobia is the fear of having one’s smartphone out of reach. This modern addiction comes with its share of other ill effects such as a feeling of emptiness, anxiety, stress, and even a decline in productivity when separated from one’s phone. The nomophobic individual harbors an unhealthy relationship with a dominant object. Nomophobia creates a false sense of emergency pertaining to online communications.
Some facts about nomophobia.
The following symptoms are signs of nomophobia:
- Finding it hard to switch one’s phone off.
- Feeling stressful without one’s phone or when it ran out of battery.
- Answering the phone during a meeting.
- Hiding in the washroom to reply to text messages.
Findings.
In 2012, a study sponsored by Nokia showed that mobile users looked at their phone 150 times a day. This means, in average, once every 6 and a half minutes during a 16 hours and 10 minutes day.
Some solutions to avoid becoming nomophobic:
- Emails and SMS can wait! Even though every task seems important, that does not make
them all urgent. Know the difference. - Organize your schedule and reply to your emails within a given time frame.
- Take some time for yourself, off your phone.
The importance to switch off:
Many entrepreneurs dream of being away from their phone. While it may not always be possible during business hours, personal life requires that they switch off at some point. Not doing so might make their professional life interfere with their relations with friends, family and their own self. These breaks are necessary for healthy professional and personal growth. Switch off and focus on investing this time in constructive activities.
The challenge: using technology without being addicted to it
As we all know, smartphones make our daily lives and our work easier. The challenge of homosmartphonus is to use the phone because it is valuable, not because he depends on it. It is important and beneficial to switch off, for entrepreneurs and employees alike. This time offline, being temporarily unreachable, also has a profitable impact on productivity: being offline helps taking enlightened decisions. All in all, we have to control the way we use smartphones so they keep improving our daily life – not ruining it.
How to use technology in a smart, time-saving way?
Despite having been coined recently, the term nomophobia reflects a tangible reality. In terms of profitability, business mapping assumes technology will help save time, accelerate production and even insure profitability for a company. These benefits should win over nomophobia.
Some entrepreneurs have managed to use technology with effectiveness and in a way that profits to operations. As an analyst for Quebec businesses, I recommend entrepreneurs use a mobile app that will improve their global efficiency. This strategic usage of their smartphone lets them centralize many of their tasks in a single app that will execute many tasks at once while allowing more time to productive activities. HOOTSUITE, for instance, is a social management tool I recommend using. Its dashboard lets your company shine quickly on social networks through a single software.
In conclusion.
If modern humans can’t live without their smartphone, they have to use it in a smart and beneficial way. Only then will technology contribute to improving their daily life without dominating it or interfering in their personal relations, letting them free to live their professional and personal lives.