Surely our smartphones can't be bad for us, I mean; they keep us connected, give us immediate answers and help us keep track of our busy lives. This is a good thing, right?
Well, sure, those are good things, but what about the negative effects of all this? Aren't there any side-effects to always having your phone in your hand?
We've narrowed down five side-effects you may want to think about next time you reach for your mobile…
1. Your attention span goes down the drain
You might think you've mastered the art of multi-tasking since you got your smartphone, but in reality you're probably just slowing down your brain. We work best when we allow ourselves to focus on one thing and getting a notification for this and an alert for that all the time inhibits this ability.
2. Using your phone at night can cause sleeplessness
According to research using your smartphone after 9pm could be the cause of your sleeping problems. The research showed that blue light emitted from smartphones can affect the sleep-promoting chemical melatonin and cause problems for us when we try to fall asleep.
3. It enables your procrastination
Procrastinating has never been easier. You need do no more than put your hand in your pocket and you've got a world of procrastination in your hands just waiting to be abused. Your phone vibrates with a new Whatsapp message but before you can read it you see a notification for a Facebook friend request. May as well check it out… And before you know it you're an hour behind the rest of the office.
4. We become anti-social
These ‘social' networks all claim to keep people connected, but that's really quite ironic, isn't it? With our heads buried in our phones we can call ourselves the most connected we've ever been, but maybe we should try to connect with the people around us for a change…?
5. We become so very, very impatient
There once was a time where if you wanted to see the news you had to wait for the evening news report, or if you wanted to buy tickets to a show you went down to the ticket store, but not anymore. These days you can program your phone to receive the news you'd like to see and people who stand in queues for tickets are suckers.
It's great that we have the ability to read news in real time and do things in a more convenient way, but we seem to be taking these innovations for granted - expecting everything to be as quick and convenient as the apps on our phones.
Should we then consider scaling back on our smartphone usage? Is it even possible to do so in this day and age where everything, and I mean everything is connected to the internet?
I don't know. But I do think that like with everything, moderation is key.
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