Hey everyone, technology has totally transformed our daily lives, from streamlining work to keeping us connected, but let’s talk about the elephant in the room: our cell phone obsession. Whether it’s scrolling during dinner or checking notifications mid-conversation, phones can pull us away from quality family time. On the flip side, they help us share moments, stay organized, and even bond over games or video calls. How do you balance phone use during family moments, and what’s one tech habit you wish you could kick to be more present? I noticed yesterday when I was sitting on the front porch with my family and I looked around and each one was on their cell phone. I found myself falling into that trap as well. Once I notice things like this, I try to put it down and engage more.
Technology Dependency
- Thread starter USHost247
- Start date
When eating meals, unless it's our daughter, we don't really check our phones. Sometimes my husband is on-call for work and needs to have it next to him though. But for the most part, the phones are put away.
When I have family/friends visit or I'm out visting them, I put my phone away. My younger family are too connected to their phones to put them down all the time. I even yelled at my sister once who was visiting saying she would go home and say she really didn't even see me because her head was down all the time.
Which is more important? Time with your loved ones? Or a tik tok video?
When I have family/friends visit or I'm out visting them, I put my phone away. My younger family are too connected to their phones to put them down all the time. I even yelled at my sister once who was visiting saying she would go home and say she really didn't even see me because her head was down all the time.
Which is more important? Time with your loved ones? Or a tik tok video?
This is something I need to get better at. I really didn't realize how much time I was spending on my phone until iOS started sending me weekly notifications about my average daily screen time. It's usually like six hours? I do have to use my phone for work plenty, so that is a factor. Still, I know that I spent way too much time looking at Facebook reels.
My family and I really should work on this. The only time we're not using our phones is if we're watching tv together, playing video games, or watching a movie. Which again this is still screentime. I was talking to my mother earlier and she was telling me that one of her coworkers was constantly using his phone while working! That's absolutely crazy to me, he also does a terrible job because he's too distracted.
I'm trying to be better with putting my phone down because I do spend quite a bit of time on it. I get a decent amount of work messages when I'm off though, which makes it harder sometimes, but I'm trying to be better with setting the phone down and not immediately rushing to it the moment I hear it vibrate to see what notification I have and if it's something I need to immediately respond to. Definitely easier said than done because I find myself still scrolling on my phone even when I'm sitting at the computer, but I'm working on breaking the habit of that too. (I actually muted notifications from the app we use at my work for this week because I got tired of seeing them and it wasn't helping me disconnect from that when I'm on my staycation.)
I think some of it boils down to who I'm around too though. Usually if I'm with my mom, I'll use my phone unless we're engaging in an activity, then I'll just pull it out to take pictures (or on occasion, video), but I live with her, so I don't really feel as guilty if I'm using it while we're eating since we can talk just about whenever we want. (There's also times where I'll be the only one of the two of us that has their phone with them, and she'll use it to take pictures, then want to see them when we're sitting somewhere.) When I'm around others though, I do a lot better with putting the phone down and not looking at it. Like when I go to speed skating practices, I'll look at my phone a little bit if we're discussing something that involves looking at the phone, but most of the time, it's 2-3 hours of me just looking at my phone if there's a notification I need to respond to on it because I'm busy engaging with other people on it. I'm trying to do better with doing it regardless of who I'm around to disconnect more and focus more on me and not just mindlessly scrolling on Facebook/Reddit/TikTok/whatever though since I don't feel like I get (much) satisfaction out of doing so.
I do think we're even more connected with smartwatches too since they can connect right to your wrist, and you don't even need to look at your phone to see notifications or if someone's contacting you. I guess in a way, it could also be a way to keep you off your phone if you're using the watch to look at notifications before whipping out your phone to look at them.
I think some of it boils down to who I'm around too though. Usually if I'm with my mom, I'll use my phone unless we're engaging in an activity, then I'll just pull it out to take pictures (or on occasion, video), but I live with her, so I don't really feel as guilty if I'm using it while we're eating since we can talk just about whenever we want. (There's also times where I'll be the only one of the two of us that has their phone with them, and she'll use it to take pictures, then want to see them when we're sitting somewhere.) When I'm around others though, I do a lot better with putting the phone down and not looking at it. Like when I go to speed skating practices, I'll look at my phone a little bit if we're discussing something that involves looking at the phone, but most of the time, it's 2-3 hours of me just looking at my phone if there's a notification I need to respond to on it because I'm busy engaging with other people on it. I'm trying to do better with doing it regardless of who I'm around to disconnect more and focus more on me and not just mindlessly scrolling on Facebook/Reddit/TikTok/whatever though since I don't feel like I get (much) satisfaction out of doing so.
I do think we're even more connected with smartwatches too since they can connect right to your wrist, and you don't even need to look at your phone to see notifications or if someone's contacting you. I guess in a way, it could also be a way to keep you off your phone if you're using the watch to look at notifications before whipping out your phone to look at them.
Min George
Familiar Face
I am really trying to put a control on my obsession with my smartphone. There are times that I intentionally just keep my phone down to teach myself how to be dependent on it.
Honestly, I don’t use my phone that much compared to most people, but I still catch myself picking it up out of habit sometimes. When I notice it, I just put it down and try to be more present with what’s going on around me.
If I had to pick one habit to kick, it’d be those random, pointless checks , just grabbing the phone for no real reason.
If I had to pick one habit to kick, it’d be those random, pointless checks , just grabbing the phone for no real reason.
Affiliates
