Put Down The Phone

There’s a growing body of evidence suggests that we learn less when using computers or tablets during lectures. Specifically, the research shows that university students who use their computers or tablets in the classroom earn worse grades; laptops distract from learning, both for users and those around them.

In a series of experiments at Princeton University and the University of California, Los Angeles, students were randomly assigned either laptops or pens and paper for note-taking at a lecture. After the class, researchers found that those who had used laptops had substantially worse understanding of the lecture, as measured by a standardized test, than those who did not.

If that’s the case for students in the lecture hall, it’s not much of a leap to expect that electronics also hurt productivity in your workplace meetings. Many of us check our smartphones once every six minutes. Our behavior has become more oriented towards the short-term, the very short-term.

I discovered this study while allowing my electronics addiction to waste my time. When I wake up in the middle of the night, my mind compulsively wants to check my phone as if there would be a reward awaiting me. Several nights ago, an hour after waking, I found myself reading about the negative effects of electronics on learning and the addictive power of smartphones.

Researchers from Korea University have found an imbalance in the brain chemistry of people addicted to smartphones. When they pried their subjects away from their smartphones long enough to study them with MRS machines to measure the brain’s chemical composition, they found a significant increase in gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate-glutamine (Glx). The chemical GABA is the neurotransmitter that slows down brain signals and Glx is the neurotransmitter that causes neurons to become more excited. The side effects include depression and anxiety—conditions that addicted test subjects had significantly higher scores in, along with insomnia and impulsivity.

Now for the embarrassing part, I’ve recently been able to admit that I have a phone addiction, and not one of talking on it. Rather, I’m addicted to holding it, touching it and playing on it.

This became apparent to me a few weeks ago, when I sat down by the pool with a book in hand. Eager to spend a few minutes relaxing, I caught myself instinctively reaching for my phone. In a state of pure consciousness, I wondered, why am I reaching for my phone? It was a Friday afternoon; the weather was great and I was looking forward to reading. So why this interruption? It didn’t beep, blink, ring. It wasn’t even in my sight. Yet, I had an urge to check it.

After the third or fourth impulsive reach for it. I decided I needed to break this habit. So, I set the timer on my Apple Watch (I haven’t decided if I think it’s good or not to use a different electronic device to break the addiction of another) to five minute intervals to distract me from the urge to reach. At the end of each urge, I just hit repeat for another five minutes. Surprisingly, I found that this kept me off my phone.

Smartphone addictions are so widespread that designer Klemens Schillinger has created a set of therapeutic phone-like objects to help “addicts” cope with withdrawal symptoms caused by being away from their devices. The idea was to create a tool that would help stop the checking behavior—that impulse to check your phone even if you’re not expecting a specific message or call.

The dependence on smartphones extends beyond their functionality. The touchscreen has made it possible to constantly multi-task and escape into another world. Constant checking cannibalizes your productive time. More than 90% of people multi-task during meetings. 42% admit to reading and responding to email in the bathroom. 70% of us check e-mail while watching TV. We make more mistakes, learn less and take longer to complete tasks.

We accept the relentless distractions of notifications as the default option. Habitual checking of what’s new on the screen has become an addictive pattern, interrupting productive work, increasing stress and even disturbing sleep.

Break free from your phone’s control and take control of your life, learning and leisure time.

Printed originally in Gulf News (11 December 17)

A thinker, speaker, and writer to the core, Dr. Tommy holds a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University, and is the founder of EMLC where he is the region's leading CEO Coach. In addition to writing a number of books—including the Amazon #1 best-seller, Leadership Dubai Style and 10 Tips for Leading in the Middle East, Dr. Tommy is the editor-in-chief of Emerging Markets Business—The Authoritative Review.

Follow me on twitter @tommyweir or visit www.tommyweir.com for more of my thoughts on leadership.