As a WH staffer discovered, dumping your handheld mate could change your life
I decided to end things one rainy Wednesday evening. My boyfriend stopped mid-story to ask if I was listening. Huh? Who me? I was scrolling Instagram, the same thing I’d been doing mindlessly for the past 20 minutes and during both commutes that day. One thing was clear: my phone and I needed to go on a break. We may not be the only ones – 18 per cent of people have argued with partners about phone use, reveals a Deloitte report, and nearly a third of us tap away during the night. In a case of perfect timing, new book How to Break Up With Your Phone had landed on my desk that week. In it, science journalist Catherine Price writes that while our phones are the bee’s knees in many ways, they also contribute to anxiety, reduced attention span and a sense of disconnectedness. The goal of her 30-day plan? To help you end things with your phone, then kickstart a healthier, more balanced relationship with it. Let’s do this.
DAY 1
GET A TRACKER
Price suggests this as a starting point, and so I downloaded free app RealizD to monitor my phone use over three days. My prediction: an hour daily, max. The reality: at least that. One day, I picked it up 90 times and was on there for three hours all up. WTAF? Boy, this was confronting, but it’s a great exercise if you need motivation for a break-up.
DAY 2
CHECK IN WITH YOURSELF
This story is from the May 2018 edition of Women's Health Australia.
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This story is from the May 2018 edition of Women's Health Australia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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