The Cuffs : how our phones are keeping us locked up.

"The feet of the son of Adam would not move until he is asked about his time and how he used it…." Hadith.

Steve Jobs, the founder of apple said during one of his interview, " we limit how much technology our kids use in the home".

A place that keeps you locked up away from family, friends and society is nothing other than a cell. In this modern age if you want to lock up someone from the aesthetic blossom and creativity of the world give him a Cellphone. You don't believe me? Let the facts speak for themselves.

Adam atlar did an experiment with young adults and they were told to choose between breaking their phones or breaking a bone. The results were shocking: 46% said that they prefer breaking their bones and among the remaining 54%, some hesitated before agreeing to breaking their phones.

Another project titled, "The World Unplugged' carried out by the University of Maryland said that when some people were taken away from their phones for 24hours, they displayed distress symptoms. If you think it's not true, the next time you are at home, lock up your phone and not touch it completely for 24hours.

The new drug of addiction has eaten far into our souls. Wait a minute, but what are the damages that our phones have done to us?

1. Dependence : we have made it a part of our lives that the first thing we check when we wake up and the last thing we check when we are about to sleep are our phones. Minutes after minutes if we aren't engaged in any busy activity, we get hold of our phones, swiping here and there.

To avoid this, try the world Unplugged project. Take a phone holiday for a period of time (if you are not involved in a very important business) and lock up the phone.

2. Like dependence: I remember a girl was once asked that what would she do if she posted a photo on instagram and she only got 10 likes ? She was furious and was confused for a moment. 

She then replied, "only 10likes? Then I would take down the photo".

Gbam, it hit me hard. Some of us are so caught in the cuffs of finding satisfaction in the number of likes and comments that people give us. We use it to judge ourselves.
I feel that there is no need for sharing our personal pictures online expecting likes or so. The only pictures I feel on someone that should be online are their profile pictures for identification and when we want to share an important event that happened to us to our friends. Love yourself the way you are and don't ever judge yourself according to the number Of views or likes or comments that you get.

3. Phantom vibration : This is when a person feel as if their phones vibrated when it didn't. They hear voices in their heads or feel an itch that their phones have got a notification when it really didn't buzz. In some severe cases, even when an insect lands on them, they feel as if it's their phone that vibrated.

Its a psychological problem according to scientists. The only way out is to take a phone holiday until symptoms calm down.

4. Time loop : you could spend hours on your phone and yet it would feel like minutes. Staying too much on your phone kills time.  Valuable time that's supposed to be used for creativity and connecting to the world around us is wasted. 

The rule is as simple as ABC. When you are involved in an important task such as writing, reading, eating, going to the toilet and many more, don't take your phone with you.

5. Relationship Assassin : How awkward when the friends meet and both of them bring out their phones, automatically, they have put a barrier between themselves and the person next to them.

    When with a friend or family, try to focus so that you could build up the conversation. If there is something important to do on your phone, take excuse from the person next to you.

6. Sleep alterations : almost everyone has ever slept late due to using their phones. Maybe for reading an e-book, chatting or playing games. The solution I use is to set my phone on auto power shutdown, so that when its 11:30, it shuts down and I won't turn it up after that and if I am using the phone, it serves as a remainder that I should start wrapping things up
         
7. Students performance :There is also an increasing number of ongoing research about the influence of phones on students. Professor James Katz of Rutgers University has given some of the effects of cell phones on students.

- cellphone use in the class for chatting or playing games reduces the students focus on the lecture being taught
- There is an outbreak of deteriorating language and spelling intellect among students. Srsly a lt f stds typ 2 mch in sht wrds. Z getn out f hnds. It has made a lot of students to not care about the actual spelling of words and some forget the real spellings. The solution is to type in full words and abbreviate only where necessary. I would take you serious If you type completely during chats than when you abbrv.

   A research at Kent University observed that students who were obsessed with their phones were less happier in the real world, showed higher anxiety and got lower grades. This is no brainer as such students spend hours with their phones instead of reading or doing assignments.

Let me make it categorically clear that I am not of the opinion that phones or Social media or the internet is evil. I believe that the advent of Mobile phones has revolutionized commerce, banking, communication, creativity, education , learning and more. In fact, phones are a blessing to humanity but if misused, can become a curse.

In essence, use your phones correctly. Be it's master, don't let it be your master.