Article says smart phones are ruining 3-day weekends.

13 years ago

Stating that the average smartphone user checks his or her device 150 times per day, or about once every six minutes, this article from NBC News says smart phones can take a toll on us and our ability to relax--especially when they're used to keep us connected to work.

A quote from Tanya Schevitz, spokeswoman for Reboot, an organization trying help people unplug more often:

"We have created an expectation in society that people will respond immediately to everything with no delay. It's unhealthy, and it's unproductive, and we can't keep going on like this."

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Comments (21)

pudgeder
13 years ago
Amen.
User
13 years ago
I totally agree.
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ravencajun Zone 8b TX
13 years ago
I don't know how people can actually live any type of life it they are checking their phones once every 6 minutes but I know I see people doing it all the time.
NOT me and NOT my husband! My cell phone sets on the counter most days not being touched and a lot of times I forget to pick it up and take it with me when we head out the door. I might check my email on my tablet a few times a day not always, I have been trying to stay off of all of them for longer periods and have been. I do take my tablet with me when I go to bed and either read or surf till I get sleepy which is usually in a few minutes LOL.
We will be going to the beach in June in the RV and I can promise you the cell phone will NOT be a priority!
People really do need to let go and relax more.
ellendi
13 years ago
Yes, I see this all the time. The cell phone is now not just for conversation, but for entertainment value as well.
I do love my smart phone and appreciate all the things I can do with it. However, when I am out to dinner or visiting with friends, it stays in my pocketbook.
Not so with the younger generation. They are constantly checking it, texting etc. It is starting to come down to good manners and etiquette. Is what's going on in your phone ore important than what is happening in real life?
blfenton
13 years ago
I'm speaking from memory and so may have the facts slightly wrong but - someone filed for overtime because their boss kept phoning/texting them on evenings and weekends about work related things and expected immediate answers. This is what can happen when your cell phone is with you and on all the time.They started to keep track of the extra hours and filed for overtime. They wound up having to sue and won.

If this happens enough I can see new work guidelines will have to be implemented. I don't have a cell phone and have no need/plans to get one.
Lindsey_CA
13 years ago
I work in Information Technology (I'm an Active Directory administrator) for a state agency. Every month the IT department has an all-staff meeting in the auditorium of the building we're in. I generally sit towards the back, and I can see pretty much everyone in attendance. I am amazed at how many people are "messing with" their smartphones during the meeting. Texting, e-mailing, surfing the web, etc. The meeting only lasts one hour. Can't they do without the darn thing for that long?
Marilyn Sue
13 years ago
My cell phone goes just about everywhere I go. I do not text, play games or surf internet on it. It is not a "smart phone". I am lost if I don't have my phone with me. That is the only way most all of my family calls me. I have had a cell phone for some years. It will not ruin my 3 day weekend.

Sue
Kathsgrdn
13 years ago
My exchange student just bought an $800 I-phone. His father sent him the money for it. I tried to talk him out of it but apparently they are even more expensive in Turkey, where he is from. I can't imagine spending that much on a phone. I don't care what it can do.

He also bought swim trunks and a tank top, took four items in the dressing room and he is so wishy washy it took him a half hour to pick between the two sets of clothes. I was thankful for my phone....which I stood there waiting and playing solitaire on. I would have gone bonkers without it.

I think I'm the only person at work without a phone glued to their fingertips at all times. I occationally check it when I'm on break in case my daughter needs me but otherwise I don't carry it in my pocket.
sephia
13 years ago
I went out to breakfast this morning. Sitting near me was a young couple in their mid-20's. Both had their phones out and were checking their e-mail, surfing the net, etc. I think in the hour I was there they only spoke to each other a couple of times, for short moments.
cynic
13 years ago
For most it's nothing more than OCD. People that attached to a phone are sick people. The sad part is they're often not the ones that die in the accidents but they wind up killing people all over a cell phone. Where's MACP (Mothers Against Cell Phones) during all this? Oh yeah, they're texting, checking email, surfing, playing games...
Toni S
13 years ago
I totally agree , being on a smart phone all the time is wasteful BUT a smart phone isn't much different from the computer that people sit in front of all day long. It's portable. There is a time and place for them. I would guess OCD isn't far from the truth. When someone feels closer to their phone than taking the time to look me in the face , I'll just leave the scene.. I love what my phone can do for me and my family, it's a time saver. Just like pc's, the relaxation they give isn't like sitting out on the porch relaxing. Even sitting here now typing on my I pad reminds me that my dh has time for us today, better put it down soon.
sjerin
13 years ago
I don't think people who are playing on their phones all the time have ocd--that would mean a vast proportion of our society does! Each successive generation has a shorter attention span that the last, but that being said, I imagine our grandparents would have had great fun playing with such toys as well. I really worry about the loss of interaction though. Last night my dd and I went to dinner and a family with two boys, maybe 10 and 7, sat next to us. The youngest had an ipad and the oldest a phone, (might have belonged to the parents,) and there was no conversation at all until the food was being decided upon and arrived. I see parents or sitters taking kids/babies for walks, chatting away on the phone constantly. Can no one stand silence without fiddling with something anymore? At a restaurant, I have to sometimes ask my dh to put his phone away--he's really gotten in the habit of constantly checking and is definitely not a person with even a hint of ocd.
sjerin
13 years ago
I don't think people who are playing on their phones all the time have ocd--that would mean a vast proportion of our society does! Each successive generation has a shorter attention span that the last, but that being said, I imagine our grandparents would have had great fun playing with such toys as well. I really worry about the loss of interaction though. Last night my dd and I went to dinner and a family with two boys, maybe 10 and 7, sat next to us. The youngest had an ipad and the oldest a phone, (might have belonged to the parents,) and there was no conversation at all until the food was being decided upon and arrived. I see parents or sitters taking kids/babies for walks, chatting away on the phone constantly. Can no one stand silence without fiddling with something anymore? At a restaurant, I have to sometimes ask my dh to put his phone away--he's really gotten in the habit of constantly checking and is definitely not a person with even a hint of ocd.
LuAnn_in_PA
13 years ago
"Article says smart phones are ruining 3-day weekends."

I don't think it's the phones fault... it's the people obsessed with them.
murraysmom Zone 6a OH
13 years ago
I think it is really sad when people go to a restaurant and have their phones sitting on the table and not even talking to the person they are with.

I don't think it is ocd. I think it's just how a lot of people communicate these days and I don't think it's for the better.
hounds_x_two
13 years ago
I'm with LuAnn on this one. It isn't the phones!
hounds_x_two
13 years ago
I'm with LuAnn on this one. It isn't the phones!
workoutlady
13 years ago
I agree. I have a young co-worker with 3 young kids. She said that she used to be on facebook, had a smart phone and all that. She said that one day her youngest got hurt climbing on the cupboard. She said that she knew that it was because she was totally ignoring him because she was on FB. So, she unplugged. I admire her for that. She no longer has her smart phone and no longer has her FB page. She does have her computer but she got rid of the distractions on it. She's on her computer less than two hours a week. She does her banking and Skypes with her parents and surfs for info that she needs. She said she doesn't visit with her friends that way ever. She has a cell phone but it is not a smart phone. She said for her she had to get rid of the distractions cold turkey so to speak since she knew if she had access, she'd use it. That's one smart mama. I'm glad she saw what it was doing to her kids. I'm not sure other young moms would be so smart.
rob333 (zone 7b)
13 years ago
Leave it in the trunk like I did! Of course, I had to make up for lost time later, so it didn't really work. Just didn't interfere while I was playing.

:(
sheilajoyce_gw
13 years ago
I do see my son-in-law able to get away for dinner with his family because of his smart phone. Otherwise, he would have to be at work still in order to help. His job has long hours and long weeks, and so the phone is a blessing and a curse to him.
OklaMoni
13 years ago
I don't think smart phones are ruining anyones weekend... nor are other phones, or the computer...

It's people "needing" to stay in touch.

I have a cell phone. Oh, let me elaborate... I have a dumb phone. Can't even take pictures with it.

But then I only got it for a phone. When at home, it lives on a shelf in the dinning room. When gone, it's in my purse.

Just a phone.

Sometimes I answer it, sometimes I don't. All depends on my mood.

It's just a phone.

Moni

Article says smart phones are ruining 3-day weekends.

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