Have you ever watched the show “My Strange Addiction”? It is an enjoyable show, but I have only watched some of it. One of the things I noticed is that most of the people shown don’t necessarily see their addiction as a bad thing. Some even justify it. On the other hand, I am entirely aware that my dependence on my phone is not in the slightest bit healthy. But similar to the people in the show, I don’t necessarily find a need to “fix” my behavior. I have extreme self-awareness but very little self-control. I am aware of many of my issues, but I don’t bother finding solutions because I know I wouldn’t put them to the test. Alas, having a phone addiction is not easy, but I know I am not the only one with the same issue.
Average Screen Time
On average, I spend about 13 hours on my phone. The highest screen time I have is 23 hours. Accounting for average, out of 24 hours, I spend over 50% of the day on my phone. If I subtract six hours from the 24 hours for sleeping, I spend over 70% of the day on my phone. I am ashamed to admit that I spend that much time on my phone daily. If this were for someone else, I would have been concerned for them. As a matter of fact, I recommend looking at your weekly report for your average screen time. It may or may not surprise you.
“What Was It All For?”
The quote for the heading is from my favorite musical, Hamilton. Music is one of the biggest reasons that I use my phone. Spotify, Pandora, Soundcloud, YouTube, I have it all. I love music, and silence is my biggest enemy. So, when I wake up in the morning, I will have music playing. When I am getting ready, I have music. On my way to work and class? Music. Even going to bed, I have music blasting through my headphones. That takes up my screen time.
But I wouldn’t say music platforms are the most used apps on my phone. The most used app on my phone is Google Chrome. Google is a broad application, but there is only one main reason I use it, and that is reading. I am an avid reader. I will spend morning to night reading, ignoring the fact that I have not even eaten or moved from the couch. Reading is honestly my first addiction. I don’t read books necessarily, but I read web novels. Web novels are online novels that can range from 10,000 words to 1 million words. They are incredible and easily accessible. With music, I am not necessarily looking at my phone. But when reading web novels, I only use my phone. I stare at my screen for long periods of time without caring that the sky turned from bright blue to pitch darkness.
If I am going to talk about phone usage, I can’t skip social media. It is practically essential to phone addictions. The social media platform that affects my screen time the most is TikTok. The app is almost mind-numbing. Much like reading, I can go forever just scrolling. I even get those videos recommending breaks often when I am in TikTok. Do I listen? No. As I said earlier, I have high self-awareness and low self-control.
Societal Dependence
My phone addiction is not all my fault. The issue with having this type of addiction is that I can’t necessarily get rid of my phone. I am a college student who works part-time. I have friends and family that live out of state and country. The main issue is that society is dependent on mobile devices as well. It makes sense because a phone is very convenient. I would need a phone to communicate with my manager, classmates, friends, and family. I would need my phone to call 911 for emergencies and to make an appointment. I would absolutely need my phone for GPS because I am directionally challenged. I can go on. A phone is something that almost everyone uses, and not having a phone makes it more challenging to live. Compared to having other addictions, having a phone addiction is harder not because of psychological or physical reasons but because of societal pressure.
Impacts on my life
How does one determine that they have an addiction or dependence? The basic answer is that an addiction negatively affects your daily life. This includes negatively affecting my relationships with family and friends and losing time. I wouldn’t necessarily say that a phone addiction harms me, but it doesn’t benefit me either.
Although I had stated that I need my phone to communicate with my family and friends, oftentimes, I don’t talk or respond to them because I find other usage of my phone more important. This especially happens when I am reading or scrolling through TikTok. If I see someone message me during those times, I ignore them. And I won’t get back to them until days later. Obviously, it has affected my relationships because being ignored is not a good feeling. It is not that I do this intentionally, but reading and social media tend to bring out this kind of behavior.
Speaking of reading and social media, one of the most consequential impacts I’ve experienced is losing time. I don’t necessarily notice the passage of time when I am focused on my mobile hobbies. At least reading is healthier, but TikTok is definitely not. I can spend 5 hours straight without a break just being on TikTok. In fact, this sometimes causes physical issues because staring at the screen for so long causes a burning sensation in my eyes. So, when I spend all this time on my phone, I cannot complete significantly important tasks, such as cleaning, doing homework, and eating.
Ending Remarks
Sometimes, people don’t even realize whether they have a phone addiction or not. I discovered my dependence when my phone died during a trip, and I quite literally suffered for hours. When I reached the destination, I searched for a place to charge my phone like a dog looking for a bowl of water during a hot summer. It was pretty embarrassing and pathetic of me. I would have never thought I would have an addiction, much less something like a phone addiction. The thing is, we use it every day, so we never really have a proper chance of not having a phone at all. I do think that many people in society can survive because they spend more years without the existence of a smartphone than they do with having one. If you are part of this group, congratulations. I happened not to be part of that group. And if you can relate to me, that is alright as well. The first step is self-awareness; maybe you will have better self-control than I do.
Do you think you have a dependence on your phone?
Yes
No
Your post looks awesome! It's organized in this very pleasing and visually attractive way. I also really like how you describe what an addiction can be, how it manifests, and how to handle it. It's a very interesting way to look at it. Not many people discuss it like that.
Another awesome post, people have no idea how much time they are wasting on their phones. Screen time is out of control in todays day and age. I deleted social media to have more time.
I love your blog post as I found myself reading through it quickly as it flowed smooth like butter, and I agree with all of it as I am a huge fan of historical manhwa. My addictions are exactly the same in terms of TikTok, reading, and music, so much that if I had a wife she'd probably sing, "and if your wife could share a fraction of your time" because it's...Non-stop. I too enjoy Hamilton, but it is probably in second place for me because Wicked was my first musical I ever saw and it has left a big impression on me; and I just love Defying Gravity. I love that you were so honest that it felt like…
I love your post because it really sheds a light on a issue that many young individuals are going through. Especially in this day and age where social media seems to run the world. It can be so difficult to just “put the phone away.” Whole lives live within a few centimeters and wires.
Love this topic, similar to mine. It's true our phones can show us so many things, and never allow us to be bored. So yes we can easily become consumed with them and waste all of our time in them.