Beware of Becoming a Smartphone Zombie

It’s fascinating how our smartphones can program us. Many times when we use our phones,  are we really “there”? Do we know what we’re doing? Are we actually aware of every action we take on that screen? When I speak for myself, I can say I wasn’t. I want to look what time it is, but somehow after 5 minutes I put back my phone and still don’t know what time it is… In such situations when I grab my smartphone, my mind is excited about all the possible updates that may await me now that I’ve grabbed my phone! So while I may have seen the time, my mind was already brainstorming about which app I should open first. And there goes the infinite loop! The infinite cycle of going through all the important apps one by one. Like a smombie (smartphone zombie) I followed this pattern and opened apps in a “programmed” order. Okay yes, sometimes I open Instagram first and then Twitter, but usually it’s the other way around. The funny thing was, that I already went through this cycle 5 minutes earlier. So basically when any opportunity arose that made me go for my phone, the cycle got triggered and there I went, opening popular apps one by one. While that alone is fascinating since I wasn’t conscious about going through that cycle, there is something even more fascinating. Sometimes, I actually started over the cycle right after I just finished one cycle! It went like this: WhatsApp – Twitter – Instagram – Facebook – Gmail – WhatsApp – Twitter.etc. Like, “there must be an important update now which I somehow have missed 14 seconds ago.” I still catch myself sometimes wanting to do that, or wanting to start a second cycle, but the more you train yourself to catch yourself in the act, the faster you can decide NOT re-initiate that cycle. No, you simply decide to lock your phone again. When you do that though, don’t forget your initial reason for grabbing your phone! Do check the time before you realise that’s the only thing you didn’t do or didn’t do consciously in those 10 minutes of phone use!