It’s common to hear so regularly about all the damage that smartphones can do to your health, your relationships, and the very social fabric around you, that it can make you wonder if they’re good for anything at all. The answer you arrive at is probably some shade of ‘they must be, or nobody would use them to the extent that they do’, but could that be more to do with the addictive properties they possess? Or, how dependent people might be on them at this stage?
It’s an interesting question, and it’s worth exploring some ways in which your phone can be more positive than you initially thought, as to gain a deeper appreciation for this device.
Moderation Is Key
The first thing to bear in mind is that a lot of the ways that people use phones in an everyday sense don’t have to be inherently negative, it might just be the regularity of use that is problematic. Watching videos on YouTube, playing games, or even finding the optimal, most legitimate online casino possible with the best casino reviews USA can be a perfectly sustainable activity so long as you understand the importance of moderation.
When it comes to phones, this might mean regular breaks, some strict scheduling with your own time, and additional amounts of moderation applied if you are engaging in those aforementioned activities that prolonged exposure can turn potentially addictive.
Finding the Positive Elements
However, if you’re less interested in mitigating the possible negative effects of your smartphone and are instead curious about what you can do to turn it into an explicitly positive influence, you might turn your attention to the functions it possesses that can change your life in that direction. Using it to exercise more through any of the tutorial apps or video services available can be one way to do this, as can using similar functions to learn a new skill, such as a language. To take things outside, you can use maps or dedicated apps once again to become aware of local beauty spots to take hikes to (ones where you refer to your phone as little as possible) and using it to book social gatherings and holidays can create memorable experiences that your phone is largely separate from outside of the initial booking.
A Social Tool
What your phone might be most useful for, and indeed what most people might refer to it for in the first place, is to connect you with other people. This likely isn’t news to you, you may well message people every day, or use any of the many social media platforms that are now designed for such devices. You might feel as though these uses are what makes it problematic in the first place, but once again, it’s the form of this use that can swing it one way or the other.
Using your smartphone to see your friends that you haven’t in a long time, or keep in touch with those who live far away can enable friendships to endure that perhaps wouldn’t have otherwise, and focusing on those constructive elements might help it to remain more positive.
