We all love our mobile phones but could they be getting in the way of your communion with God? A study in Psychological Reports: Disability and Trauma seems to imply that social media withdrawal closely resembles that of a drug addict crashing back down to earth.
We respond more quickly to feedback from Facebook than to traffic signs. And you may have heard that being connected to a cell phone all the time is bad for our sleep—too much blue light from our phones before bed can disrupt our sleep, according to Brian Zoltowski of Southern Methodist University. The cumulative effect of poor sleep is terrible for our health.
Adam Jeske writing for the website Relevent has some suggestions for making sure you aren’t making an idol out of your cell phone…
- Celebrate the Sabbath. He admits this will be hard and uncomfortable at first, but an entire day without screens is refreshing.
- Plan your consumption. Smartphones are useful and always with us. But that doesn’t mean we really need to check them 50 times a day. Constant checking interrupts our flow, thinking, prayer, conversations and work.
- Choose your channel. We have too many social channels to connect—so Adam suggests you pick one and ignore the rest.
- Consider all those social ties. There are probably some people you interact with (or at least follow) on social that are a drag on you. Get rid of them.
- Watch your heart. Practice noticing how you’re thinking and feeling as you’re connected. Maybe journal every day for a week for a few minutes after you check social. See what kind of patterns emerge. And pray through what comes up.
It might not seem like a big deal, but the drug of ‘Facebook’ has lasting side-effects that need to be addressed.