How Distracted Can You Get?

Hands up, I am addicted to my smartphone. I am constantly using it during the day and it’s a disaster for me if I happen to lose it.

I carry out my banking, keep in touch with family and friends, play a free roulette game every so often for a bit of excitement during my day, and I am constantly browsing for goods and services.  I use my phone for work purposes as well as for my own leisure but it was not until a friend pointed out that I was actually ignoring her when we were out to lunch that I began to think about how much I am on my phone.

Phubbing is the term used for ignoring the person you are with in favor of your mobile phone. It is thought that on average a mobile phone user like myself would check their phone every six to seven minutes.  This amounts up to an amazing 150 times a day, no wonder phubbing or phone snubbing gets on other peoples nerves.

Once I had this information stored it wasn’t long before I was checking out other phone users, the couple in the restaurant that didn’t chat to each other whilst they ate, or perhaps the group of friends at the pub who were enjoying each others company, all except for one who was constantly checking their phone.

Any one of us whose owns a smartphone can at one time or another hold up our hands to missing a piece of conversation because we were concentrating on our phones. It is a sad sign of our times that phone addiction whilst with your partner has been added to a list of common relationship problems. This list also includes other things like money, children, sex, in fact all the big problems that can split a couple up.

It is a simple fact that if you put your phone where you can see it or use it continually whilst you ae with someone then it is going to undermine the quality of the relationship you have with that person. Less meaningful interactions instead of being present and aware of your partners needs is a dead cert to relationship breakdown, whether it is a friendship or something more serious.