Smart Phone Addiction

  Standing on a railway platform 5 minutes ago, and I looked around me. There were 20 people waiting for a train – of these, only 2 were not looking at or listening to a phone. We spend so much time these days living in the bubble that the smart phone creates around us. People walk past me talking to someone who is at the other end of their phone connection, people cross roads without  being aware of the cars that narrowly miss them.

Now before I start to sound like a curmudgeonly old man, I should point out that I too have a smart phone – I listen to podcasts on it, listen to music, do my email, send and receive texts, check train journeys, look at and post to Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, keep a task list etc etc. Countless things that  I do with my smart phone enrich and enhance my life. I even write blog posts on it!

But I also can’t help thinking that in some ways it has replaced the cigarette as an addiction in our lives. Back in the 1980s when I smoked for a couple of years, the cigarette was what I used to fill the gaps, relieve boredom, deal with the awkwardness of standing around waiting for something to happen. It was a symbol to hide behind. These days it is the mobile phone. Rather than standing and engaging with people around us, we tend to disappear into the private world of the “things I can do on my phone”.

Would it be helpful to reflect on whether we are tapping into our phone because it is adding value, or to avoid being in the moment?

Next time I reach for the phone to: check the time, see if I have a text, or email, or to check Facebook… instead, I will just pause and look around me. Take stock. Think and just be for a moment.

Also published on Medium.