Ignore The Phone For A Few Hours: Let The Brain Recharge

You might think you can ignore your cell phone. But for how long? An hour, a half hour or maybe a couple of minutes?

You should at some point try disconnecting your mobile phone to assess how dependent you are on it. Whether we like it or not, we live in a world where smart phones have become an extension of our bodies.

They are called smartphones because they can do amazing things that make our lives easier. But something psychologists have observed is that smartphones are becoming a substitute for intelligence.

People use them for things they should do themselves. For convenience and to be fast and efficient, they transfer many tasks to their mobiles.

Not long ago, almost all people memorized the phone numbers of their friends, relatives, and partners. Nowadays we hardly remember our own.

In fact, we are losing some orienteering skills, which is due to the fact that we are constantly using GPS to get to different places.

In this way, we do not train the logical and spatial abilities that these tasks require.

Furthermore, there is another phenomenon that is both interesting and worrying: smartphones make us less productive and motivated and they draw energy from us. How? Let’s take a closer look.

You need to be more competent than your smartphone to prevent it from controlling you.

Ignore your cell phone for a couple of hours for your health

Even if you have a hard time believing it, nothing will happen to you if you choose to ignore your mobile for a while. The world will not stop.

And if people call or text you, they will not disappear just because you answer a few hours later.

Everything will be where it was, everyone will go on with their lives and all your obligations will remain.

But when you “disconnect” you will see a difference. In fact , you will feel better and that is what you should strive for.

No matter how logical this may seem, the truth is that it can be difficult to implement. Yes, it is so difficult that you will probably act in a way you are not aware of.

The world has come to a point where people sit with their phones even in moments of inactivity and rest. During work breaks, in the subway, in the queue at the store, in the cinema before the film starts…

Every spare second is spent checking the mobile.

But being busy with your phone all the time, even during rest periods, can have harmful effects. The brain needs to  disconnect from time to time.

So if you stimulate it in this intense way, you can not meet the needs of the brain, and the consequences of this are obvious. At least there are some interesting studies that point to it.

Phones and mental burnout

Rutgers University of New Jersey conducted a study with a group of college students. The researchers asked half of the group to rest for an hour before undergoing various tests.

During this time, they were not allowed to use their phones.

However, the other half of the group was allowed to use their phones during the rest period. In the light of these instructions, the tests showed very remarkable results.

The students who used their phones during the break made 22% more mistakes than those who did not use their phones.

In addition, it took them almost twice as long to process and understand all the test questions compared to those who did not look at their phones.

These data confirmed something that the researchers already suspected: electronic devices reduce the ability to focus and to solve complex problems effectively.

Furthermore, ignoring your cell phone for at least an hour can help you regain some mental acuity.

To ignore the mobile phone is to free oneself from an intermediary

One thing that the above study clearly shows is that people often underestimate the resources that their phones take away from them.

Mobile phones affect people’s mental flexibility and their ability to concentrate, observe, react, to move from one place to another and also to connect with others in a more humane way.

However, the solution to the problem is not to use “less smart” phones. Technology is something fantastic and technological development should progress as it does.

Because it is extremely useful and solves many of the world’s major problems. It’s just a matter of using it wisely. Something so phenomenal should not be harmful, as long as you keep it under control so that it does not affect your life.

Ignoring your phone for a few hours, or an entire afternoon, will not hurt you. But it does mean to be constantly connected and in such an intense way.

It is stressful for your brain and has a negative effect on your drive, on your skills and also on your health.

This is something you should try to become more aware of, as many experts point out that we are creating emotional ties with our phones.

The telephone is no longer just an aid but a friend that no one wants to leave home.

Reflect on this. Disconnect. Reload. Turn off your cell phone and start living.