 |
| Too many uses - Too much time ? |
Are we all becoming smart phone addicts?
I have myself an iPhone, an iPad and a BlackBerry - to be mobile, connected, inspired and reachable... And I spend a lot of time on those devices every day, for my job, with my family, for my social and societal activities, and of course for entertainment and news!
Is that too much? I bet you that you sometimes ask yourself the same question.
Actually, in the corporate world, a new health concern has been raised throughout scientific studies: CPA - cell phone addiction, which is a behavioral addiction as severe as certain substance addictions. CPA is pretty similar to credit card or gambling addictions...
You might have experienced it yourself on your BlackBerry, with the "red light symptom" as I call it - once the red light is flashing, you have a compelling, compulsive need to look at your email inbox! You can't help it.
A study has looked closely at this impulsiveness, within 2pools of business-school students in the USA (191 people in total). On average, each student receives 110 text messages a day, sends about 113 SMS a day, consults its smart phone 60 times and spends 7 hours using it... This is just amazing, and frightening too: And this is our future business leaders!
The big question is: Do we really need that? Are we obliged to get be so connected in the "Now World"? Well... Dr James Roberts, who led the study and published it in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions, asked the B-school students that question. And their response was rather unanimous: Not being able to use the smartphone would seriously damage social life, according to the respondents. And intuitively, we would share the same feeling wouldn't we...
Now, when am I definitely considered a smart phone addict? There are 10 symptoms identified in the good article attached from Digital Trends website: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/top-10-signs-of-cell-phone-addiction/
Is it too late? Is the CPA a disease we cannot cure? Certainly not. I bet you will soon find the nearest CPAA: the Cell Phone Addicted Anonymous association to help out :-)
More seriously, as for all addictions, the best remedy is anticipation, prudence, prevention. It is our duty as parents and responsible leaders to lead by example, to limit our own smart phone consumption, and to incentivize younger ones to "calm down" on cell phone use.
Easier said than done though, isn't it.
So one word of conclusion: Now that you have read all this and thought about it, just switch off all your mobile devices, your laptop and your television... and go talk with your colleagues, your wife, your children or your friends, whoever is the closest... DO IT NOW.
