My kind of lifestyle is a lot different from regular people, not that I'm special or something. It is just that my outdoor activities is very limited. I enjoy the company of myself a lot, I was an extreme introvert some years ago but a lot has changed about my personality, regardless I'm still a work in progress. Ever since I came back from NYSC, I have been at home managing my business and online activities. Working from home most times and my only partner is my smartphone, I occasionally read virtual books, write, listen to music, watch movies and trade when necessary.
I and my phone have a solidarity relationship or should I say a symbiotic relationship. if I'm being sincere before the whole graduation and NYSC stuff it has always been me and my phone, I'm not really a fan of sharing my thoughts or talking about it. The only way I know how to do that is probably to write poems about it which I write down either on the note app on my phone or my poem book. Well recently I have been fond of writing short quotes on my WhatsApp status, Online+, sometimes on threads and ecency deck.
I remember a time my phone was snatched by pick pockets { Local swindlers that make a living by stealing through deeping hands into people's bags or pocket on the street or bus stop} they are mostly common in crowded areas. This incident happened in acme street, agidigbi, Ikeja, Lagos State. we were rushing to board a bus, my phone was in my front pocket. Immediately I noticed a hand in my pocket but before I could find time to get hold of it the phone is already gone.
That was one of the most saddest moment of my life because I had a lot of files on that phone, it took me about a week before I could get another smartphone but that one week without my phone felt like forever. Due to the kind of activities I use my smartphone for it is very difficult for me to do without it, you might wonder what kind of activities I'm talking about, there are a lot.
Apart from that, one of the major things I use my smart phone is to perform activities on my hive account. Though when I first started my hive career, I occasionally make use of my laptop for writing and publishing of post but then over time I realised it consumes more data compared to using my phone. For awhile now, I mostly use my smart phone for my hive related activities. I do more than just write on hive, I'm also a risingstar gamer, a journey I started 2 years ago and I have made significant progress so far.
From my analysis of the things I use my smart for, it is kind of difficult to state the amount time I spend each day on screen. But if I'm to speculate based on the data I have gathered from app usage on my phone, I would say it varies around 10-12 hours screen time every day. Does that mean I'm addicted to my phone? No, I wouldn't say that. I consider my phone a tool and I also find ways to regulate my smartphone usage whenever I feel I'm too attached to it. What do I do?
It is kind of simple, though I wouldn't advise anyone to make use of same method because it depends on the kind of smart phone you use. Whenever I'm making use of my smart phone longer than usual I get a notification from my phone "phone master" An app common on most Infinix phones. This notification is about the temperature of my phone rising which indicates how long have been making use of it. So whenever I get this notification, I let my phone be for awhile then pick it later.
I believe one of the major reasons that contribute to the amount of time I spend on screen is because I'm currently not doing any job that requires my physical presence, majority of the services I render can be categorised as freelancing.
If I'm to advise anyone on how to manage the Amount of time spent on screen, I would say do whatever works for you. The most effective one I know of is getting a hobby Which might work but it doesn't really work for me. My hobbies includes writing which kind of still requires me to make use of my phone.
This write-up was inspired by week 43 episode 2 - SciFi multiverse titled "Phone addiction and its effect on the mental health of humans" in SciFi multiverse community.
Cover image - 𝖣𝖾𝗌𝗂𝗀𝗇𝖾𝖽 𝗎𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗏𝖺
Image 1 - Source
We don't have to allow our Phones to control us.