Justine Beauregard and her husband were sitting on the couch, watching television.
Quality time together, right? Justine thought so— until her husband glanced at her, clearly annoyed. “Are you planning on spending time with me, or will you be on your phone all night?” he asked.
Ironically, the more mobile phones connect us to the world, the more disconnected we become. And that can wreak havoc on our relationships, our happiness, and our home lives.
Looking for more incentive to step away from the phone? Here are three good reasons to disconnect.
1. You will be more interesting to friends and more appealing to lovers.
2. You won’t seem like a jerk.
No one wants to be considered boorish or inappropriate, but if you are overly attached to your phone, your behavior is probably both.
Nearly one-third of phone users admit to checking their phones while dining with others according to a 2012 study, 2 and 10 percent said they check their phones during religious services. More than one-third check their phones while using the bathroom. More than half take their phones to bed—checking them before drifting off to sleep, in the middle of the night, and when they wake up.
The researchers describe this behavior as a “new mobile mindset.” Your dining companions, lovers, and fellow worshippers would call it something else: rude.
3. You will get more out of life.
When you are gazing at your phone, you’re missing out on everything else. Your phone use “robs you of the beautiful trees, sunshine, and birds—key elements of mental health and well-being,” says Dr. Bobinet.
And your family members—especially children—miss you.
Look around. If you are in a public place, chances are you’re surrounded by similarly blank faces. “That’s what we look like when we are staring at our phones,” Burd notes.
As for Justine, today she allocates specific times for phone use, keeping it silent the rest of the day. She shuts it off at bedtime. And she wrote a book on balance in life titled To the Women Who Want It All (Amazon Digital Services, 2014; $9.99). “I wrote my book as I curbed use of my cell phone,” she says.
1.Przybylski A, Weinstein N. Can you connect with me now? How the presence of mobile communication technology influences face-to-face conversation quality. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 2013;30(3):237-46. doi: 10.1177/0265407512453827.
2.Mobile Mindset Study. Lookout wwebsite. Available at . Accessed April 17, 2015.
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3.Abigail Burd. Why I Want to Look at My Phone Less around My Baby (blog). Available at Accessed April 17, 2015.