Catherine R. Hofmann

My smartphone is a curse and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. Take the test to see if you have a problem relationship with your mobile device: 

What’s your score?

Swap out “Mobile Device” with “Alcohol” and that’s the same test medical professionals use to screen for alcoholism. And look at the similarities:

• Mobile devices negatively affect our sleep.
• Some of Apple’s major investors are asking them to to research the effects of mobile device usage on children’s mental health.
• Mobile device addiction is linked to depression and anxiety.
• Mobile devices cause injury and death via car crashes.

I blame myself for lack of discipline, but this thing is addictive. Take the “nomophobia” quiz here.

Now What?

At one point I bought a piece of plastic shaped like an iPhone, except the upgraded version with “selfie” capability. It worked for awhile, then I forgot about it.

Now I’m doing 2 things: 
First, I changed my phone to greyscale. In iOS: settings > general > accessibility > display accommodations > color filters > toggle color filters on

Then, I moved all of my apps into the dock. I’m forced to use the search function to find anything, making my iPhone use more focused.

So far it’s working. My iPhone is now boring and hard to use.