The smartphone is a powerful device.
We keep thinking we are its master while unfortunately, it is often the other way around.
The smartphone essentially is our master and we are its slave.
We shouldn’t be too surprised, the smartphone is basically our new appendage.
We bring it everywhere, literally everywhere with us.
No wonder our smartphone is having the time of its life.
There are hundreds of daily opportunities for our smartphones to shine.
The behavior our smartphones are depicting is criticized often, but we shouldn’t forget that we rarely leave the device alone.
Let’s now change the way we see our devices, let’s compare our most popular device with a human being.
If a human being would treat you the way your device is treating you, would you accept that?
Would you be okay with that?
If a human being demands your attention immediately regardless of where you are or what you are doing…would you be fine with that?
Would you place your attention immediately on that person or would you at least perceive that behavior as rude?
You probably won’t be happy with that behavior.
If you don’t know the person, there is no way you would accept that.
There is no way we would put up with such behavior.
What about perceiving your device as a family member?
With family members, we often adapt ourselves to specific behavior because well..they are family.
We may not like specific attitudes, but we accept them because we can’t just turn our backs on them.
What we can do is setting boundaries!
When a specific attitude is displayed we can show our dissatisfaction and inform the family member why we don’t appreciate that.
Since the smartphone is a device that we keep using (as we stay in contact with a family member despite the fact there may be little in common), it is best to compare our devices to a family member.
We love the person but boundaries have to be implemented.
Like you know your family member, you want to get to know your device as well.
Learn about all its features and options you can enable or disable.
Be mindful of how your smartphone is treating you and then carefully envision how you ideally want your smartphone to treat you.
With that in mind, you carefully decide when you want to be on your phone, when it is allowed to disturb you and how you want to use it.
Use the available settings so you know exactly what to expect from your device.
When the phone is configured, it will be easier to tolerate it.
While you can make a family member clear about your boundaries, it is normal to simply focus on how you react.
It is not up to us to change people and while we can try to help someone see why specific behavior is not appreciated, there is no guarantee that the family member will actually change.
The only thing that we can change though is ourselves.
So sometimes we have to adapt ourselves and lower our expectations in order to avoid any form of confrontation.
In every family there are issues, it’s normal.
Don’t be so kind and considerate with your phone though!!
Your phone can’t talk back and doesn’t have any feelings, so show no mercy for the sake of your own concentration, sanity, and wellness!