(Painting: Cellphone Zombies by Jack Larson/ from google).
“Awareness”:
Researchers for phone apps found that the average person checks their smartphone between 110 and 150 times per day.
On average the frequency of checks is 9 times per hour rising in peak usage times to every 6 seconds in some cases!
One researcher found that of the 150,00 users they studied, phones were unlocked to view 900 times per day which equals approximately 18 hours of interaction.
Some environments would be considered “non permissive” for phones, for example school or work – this is perhaps why peak usage was discovered to be between 5pm – 8pm. The lowest usage time was between 3am – 5am (24% of users).
Now, here is the point. Not all of the peak or off peak usage is carried out in the comparative safety of your own home – (I say “comparative” as, sadly, not everyone's home is safe) so therefore this level of distractedness is carried out in public places.
This profoundly compromises your personal safety and your ability to react to potential threats in good time – not just threats of crime but basic health and safety risks too. When I’m out walking locally where I live, I regularly see people drive past me while texting.
Priorities, I guess.
The intrusion into the quality of your thinking and concentration can last even when you've stopped looking at the phone, you become distracted by the information that you have “consumed”.
Your displaying of a phone itself in public can place you at risk of theft etc.
The simplest question you can ask yourself regarding your safety while out in public spaces during your day is:
“Who is around me and what are they doing?”
Making it a habit means that it will remind you to check in on your situational awareness even when you've been distracted.
If you're concerned by this, consider swapping the smart phone for a basic “burner” phone – cheap, just calls and no one wants to rob it from you as they feel sorry for you when they see it!
“Who is around me and what are they doing?”
If you're reading this on a phone right now – without stopping to look around – can you answer that?
Further reading:
https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2017/05/five-things-i-learnt-after-giving-up-phone-for-a-day/