I'll be the first to admit it, I have a serious love/hate relationship with my phone. On the one hand, it makes me feel close to my family (who live a state away) and gives me access to a never ending stream of adorable baby pics of my niece–yippee! On the other hand, it keeps me connected 24/7 to work.
I can not even begin to count how many times my husband has taken me out on a date and been infuriated when halfway through dinner, I whip my phone out to make sure nothing has exploded at whatever website, magazine, blog, etc. I'm working on. "Don't other people work there too?" is his general complaint–and it's a valid one, I'd like to point out.
Apparently, British researchers agree with my hubby. Although they have found that compulsively using your phone to check in with friends and social networking sites is actually more stress inducing than checking in for work, they still found a connection between stress levels and the obsessive use of smart phones.
I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself because I (like most people) really only made the move to a smart phone to accommodate my work load, but (unlike most people, I guess) I still only really check into social networks like Twitter and Facebook when I'm using my laptop or desktop–well, unless I see something totally insane that I feel the need to tweet immediately, come on, I can't help myself!
I think the smartest takeaway from this study is just the basic acknowledgment that we all need a break for our über connected lives every now and then. I for one, try to take vacations in exotic locations where you have to really seek out Internet connections and cell phone service (I highly recommend a trip to Tulum, Mexico, for anyone who needs to some Internet detox).
Does your cell phone drive you crazy? Have you ever wanted to just unplug?
Image via caribbeanfreephoto/flickr
