Smartphone addicts anonymous: Are you smarter than your smartphone?
Featured | Mohit | August 21, 2010 at 7:23 am
Smartphones, do they really make us smarter? Maybe not, but then do help us go about our business more efficiently. Remember those bedtime tales of Alladin and his Genie and how easy it was for Alladin to rub the magic lamp to make the genie appear, similarly, smartphones such as BlackBerrys and IPhones fetch emails and deliver them in ones phones inbox, magical isn’t it? but that’s not all, add functions such as surfing the internet, watching videos, playing games and clicking photographs to the list of tasks that a smartphone can perform and you have your self a really smart phone.
Such is the dominance of smartphones in today’s business world that many organizations make it mandatory for senior personnel to own one. But that’s not all, i recently read an article on Harvard Business Review(HBR) that talked about how entrepreneurs are changing the way they sell their ideas, it is not uncommon for an entrepreneur to whip out his smart phone and showcase his idea by simply touching a few buttons on his smartphone.
The flip side of this story is that a lot of people are now addicted to their smartphones. a study done by David Vance, assistant professor of accounting at Rutgers-Camden university, and Nada Kakabadse, professor of management and business research at University of Northampton, UK found that a third of BlackBerry users show signs of addiction “similar to alcoholics.” But in case you thought it was merely the corporate world that suffers from this addiction. Think again.
Few years back the smart-phone market was well segregated. While BlackBerry’s were in vogue with the corporates, teenagers and young adults were lining outside Apple Stores to buy IPhones. A lot has changed since then. Every few days one of my friends update their Facebook status with their BlackBerry Pin. While BlackBerry has managed to enter the “teenager and young adult” market segment, IPhone is not too far behind in eroding the BlackBerry market, IT departments are flooded with requests by users to connect their IPhones to corporate networks. I recently read an article which states that many companies were considering moving to IPhones. Recently Standard Chartered bank announced that it has moved to IPhone from BlackBerry.
I decided to compile list of 5 signs to diagnose a smartphone addiction and a 3 step plan to cure that addiction. So here we go..
Top 5 Signs that you are addicted to your smartphone are:
1. You wake up at 3 Am in the morning just to check your emails. Even worse, you reply back at the same time.
2. You are constantly seen tapping into your smartphone during lunch hours/coffee breaks/dog walks etc.
3. You have completely forgotten that Black berry is a fruit
4. An email alert on your phones brings a big smile on your face
5. You secretly enjoy the fact that people think you’re a smartphone addict.
A 3 step plan to cure your smartphone addiction
1. Acknowledge the addiction : Its important to be aware about a problem. Acknowledging the problem is half the cure
2. Set boundaries: Make a rule that you will not check your email after 10 pm and slowly gather the courage to bring that deadline up to 7pm.
3. Create a off time : Make sure that you are actually engaging with your coworkers/friends/family during lunch/coffee breaks etc. Do not touch your smart phone during this time. Remember, world wars dint start because someone forgot to reply to an email.
Got more signs that indicate smartphone addiction? or pointers than can help cure this addiction? Then leave them in the comment box below.
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