A group of researchers from the University of Washington (Seattle, United States) conducted a series of interviews to study the compulsive use of smartphones, a problem that affects everyone, albeit with different severities depending on the case. Common behaviors have emerged among various groups of people, with different ages and educational levels, and a general tendency to commit any “empty” moment of the day to keep an eye on the latest on the smartphone. This compulsion, the researchers say, can be dismantled by changing small tics and habits, as long as you are seriously interested in doing so.
In recent years, smartphones have become the most present objects in our lives, to the point of checking them dozens (in some cases hundreds) of times a day. Their operating systems and applications are designed to entice us to use them as much as possible: they constantly require our attention, with sounds and notifications on the screen, which can become a source of distraction and cause a certain addiction. The latest versions of iOS and Android offer ways to try to reduce the tic of constantly checking your smartphone, but these solutions have not proved very effective so far (causes and mental mechanisms of the phenomenon are not yet completely clear).
To understand something more, the researchers, led by Alexis Hiniker, interviewed three different groups of people: high school students, university students and graduates; the participants were 39 in all, resident in Seattle and aged between 14 and 64 years. Each of them was asked to show how they usually use smartphones and apps, describing their behavior aloud. A subsequent phase of the interviews then concerned more specific questions about their habits and what drove them, more than anything else, to check the smartphone screen or to use a certain application.
Four situations that favor compulsion emerged from the interviews:
filling a moment of inactivity; take a break in the middle of a boring activity; escape from an unpleasant social interaction; be waiting for a message or a call.Hiniker and colleagues did not expect to find such common causes among the various groups analyzed:
This does not mean that young people use their phones like adults. But I think this compulsion to always go back to using the phone arises equally among the various groups. The interviewees spoke about it in identical terms. High school students would give answers like: 'Whenever there is a dead time, even if I only have a minute between classes, I take out my phone.' And adults have told us things like: 'Whenever there is a down time, even if I only have a minute between one patient and another at work, I take out my phone.'
The interviews also revealed a certain awareness of spending more time than necessary on one's smartphone, and a desire to reduce it. Some have explained that they have tried the features of iOS and Android that limit the use of smartphones, notifications or the time you can spend on specific applications, but without achieving satisfactory results. They also attributed to smartphones and experiences that offer a value, as is normal, that they cannot give up (especially with apps that involve interacting with other people, albeit at a distance).
Hiniker noted that, more or less consciously, we estimate the usefulness of what we are doing with the smartphone:
They describe it as an economic calculation. Like: how much time do I spend on this app and how much of that time is actually an investment in something that is lasting and transcending this specific moment? Some experiences induce more compulsive behavior, and this reduces the time spent on more meaningful activities.
The research does not lead to definitive answers, but it still provides some ideas to try to reduce smartphone addiction.
1. Do nothing
Even if the temptation is strong, having it at hand, a suggestion is to try not to always check the smartphone in the empty moments of the day. Getting bored a little can be very useful for letting your thoughts flow, observe what is around you and come up with some ideas.
The advice is to try to be more aware when you pick up your smartphone at the bus stop, think that maybe the same gesture was done less than two minutes before, trying in this way to control the impulse.
Using the “Do not disturb” option, turning on airplane mode, or leaving it at home from time to time, when going out for short errands, can be good compromises to get used to being a little further away from apps and notifications.
2. In the short intervals
Doing boring tasks or jobs amplifies the desire to do something else, which breaks the monotony for a while giving an escape to the mind. Smartphones have become the loophole par excellence, but their endless supply of content makes it difficult to control the times, without getting sucked into discussions on social networks and apps for messages.
The recurring interruptions to control the smartphone do nothing but lengthen the time needed to finish the boring task we are doing, further worsening our already negative perception of the task to be done. Also in this case you need a little self-discipline and a greater awareness of what you are doing: setting a timer and setting the times, with breaks at regular intervals and for a few minutes, can help to improve things.
3. With others
Smartphones offer a good escape even when you are in the company of other people, with complicated situations to manage. Taking out your cell phone when a conversation drops and no longer goes on, especially with people you are unfamiliar with, usually seems like a good idea to ease a certain feeling of discomfort.
In some cases it can be a good solution, the technological equivalent of reading the recommendation plate in the elevator, as long as you ask yourself if there are no better alternatives and if you are not simply reacting like that out of laziness. Resisting the temptation and trying to revive the conversation can be a good exercise to improve your social relations, as well as the advantage of not falling back on your smartphone screen for the umpteenth time.
4. The wait
Sometimes it happens to be spasmodic waiting for a message or a call, to the point of constantly checking the smartphone screen to find out if something has arrived. It is a situation that for some can be unnerving and alienating, even preventing them from enjoying an evening with friends or a movie without distractions.
For these circumstances alone, it can be useful to set your phone to notifications come loud and clear, with a sound or vibration: making sure you can't miss them will make the wait a little less nerve-wracking, or at least reduce the amount of time. impulse to check every moment. To change the ringtone and vibration, simply access the operating system settings.
Of course, no solution will really work without the will to change things by reducing your dependence on the screen. Nor should we exceed in the opposite direction: smartphones have given us the possibility of always having the immense amount of information on the Internet in our pockets, staying in touch with our friends and taking snapshots of what we have around us or are doing. just to name a few advantages. However, it is true that we tend to spend a lot more time on smartphones: it's not necessarily bad, but in some circumstances it can preclude us from better experiences, away from a bright screen.
