Chick A: Might Have An Addictive Personality.

Yesterday I literally Googled, “How to not be addicted to your cell phone”.

My phone brings me a lot of stress and anxiety. I know it’s stupid, but I just have found myself becoming more and more addicted to it. Obsessively checking it.

Are there any red circles indicating that my phone has something new to tell me? New text? New email? New comments or Likes on TFC? New updates from my bank? Did I spin the wheel on Bejeweled for today? Am I current with all the people I follow on Instagram? Do I have any moves to play on Words With Friends? Is my Flower Garden in need of watering? And on and on and on….

And, if I have new texts or emails, what are they going to say?? Is it going to be positive or negative? Will it bring me joy or worry? Will it be spam or will it be a funny forward from my Dad?

Don’t even get me started on the power percentage…holy crap, if that thing dips below 20%, I’m sent into a state of code red emergency….MUST GET TO A POWER CORD!!!

Speaking of, if you didn’t see Jerry Seinfeld, who is one of my favorite comedians, perform on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, watch it here, it’s so funny and makes me feel better about myself as a person and not so alone in my phone related issues. (Plus, his take on the Post Office is just spot on.)

Generally, the last thing I do before I fall asleep at night and the first thing I do before I get out of bed in the morning is check my phone. Last night, for the first time, on purpose, I left my phone out in the living room. There was a tiny bit of separation anxiety, I will admit, but I quickly got over it. It’s so freeing. I don’t want to reply to people all the time. I want to at least seem like I am somewhat busier than I actually am. But I think, the people that I text with a lot, won’t they start wondering what’s wrong with me? Will they think I am mad at them because I am not texting right back? I don’t want to upset anyone! I don’t want to be a jerk! I want to be a good friend who is there for the people I care about!!! See? It’s very stressful.

Like everything in my life, when I feel as though I need some moderation with something, at first I’ll go to the extreme. In this case, telling my bf that I was “going to get rid of my cell phone”…but then reality sets in and we, as humans, living in a world where cell phones are the new keys/wallet/clean underwear, meaning we can’t leave the house without them, I do not think it wise that I just get rid of it all together. But, maybe I’ll just really try to, like I have with sugar and carbohydrates, try to cut-back.

What I learned by Googling, “How to not be addicted to your cell phone” was:

1. Keep Busy.

2. Think of why you like your cell phone so much.

3. Limit your calls or tell friends about your addiction so that they can make the move on cutting the conversation off.

4. Disable all extra features, like any text message plans or ringtone download packages.

5. Give your cell phone to your parents when you’re most likely to use it.

6. Settle for a pay-as-you-go plan as a last resort.

7. Simply give it up.

So, obviously, after reading these tips on WikiHow, especially number 5, I determined that this must be more of a problem for teenagers, not 37 year olds. If I tried to give my parents my phone because I didn’t want to use it so much, they’d think I had an even bigger problem than just overusing my phone.

I’ve found more balance in my life with sugar and carbs, I can have them in moderation now. So I will try to do the same with restoring balance in my smartphone world as well.

(Watch me have a day once a month that I send 7,000 texts, while standing over the sink hoping that my bf doesn’t come in and catch me….aka “Binge Texting”…)

If you feel like me, which I know there’s gotta be others out there, comment on this post, let’s get through this together. 🙂

Sorry phone, it’s not you, it’s me….no…really, it’s you…

Heart you,

-Chick A