Addiction is when the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance, thing or activity, interferes with daily life, work, and or relationships.

An alcoholic, is someone who wakes up to a beer instead of a cup of joe. But with the technology boom, the signs of addiction can also be found in other places besides alcohol, it can also be found in the form of cell phones.

You may find yourself checking your phone first thing in the morning—before even getting out of bed, you might be showing signs of being addicted. If you find yourself checking Facebook instead of working, if you find your text-messaging while driving —your phone is running your life, and you are addicted.

Are you missing out on living a satisfied and a worthwhile life, because you’re consistently looking down at your cell phone?

Are we leading into a future where people have to go to rehab for phone addictions?

It could be similar to those gaming addiction facilities, set-up in places such as; Japan. They are set up similar to what you would find in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. It certainly looks like we’re heading down that road.

If you had to guess, how many times a day do you look at your phone? Or the countless hours spent texting one another, scrolling through your social media pages, liking and eagerly awaiting to see how many likes you can rack up on your latest libel posts.

Technological advancements have and are making are everyday living much easier. We’ve come a long way since the 70’s, when computers were the size of an average living room. Now they can conveniently fit in one’s pocket. Since the idea of a personal computer came about, in the late 70’s, when the late great Steve Jobs was exploring his own mind, tripping about on hallucinatory substances. From that point forward, it became his mission to come up with a device, that one could hold in their hands and see the whole world, and anything one wants to view through it. He didn’t take any credit for the PC until the iPad was invented in 2007. But at the same time, he felt people weren’t ready for it yet. So using the same technology, he would put out the iPhone. Which would later be called the greatest invention of all time, according to sources, such as; Time magazine.

Since the release of the iPhone, and other smart phones, has paved the way for one of people’s biggest addictions. Anywhere from young kids to the elderly; we all spend a startling amount of time peering into our handheld devices. So much wasted time googling, texting, building your own world in Minecraft, or clashing with other clans, flinging angry birds around. It is causing so much distraction, that when we hang out with friends and or loved ones, a lot of that precious time, is spent staring down at your hands. It has lead to major isolation and communication issues. Millennials especially, having difficulties even looking people in the eyes when talking to one another.

One can start today to wean themselves off their absurd addiction, no longer being a slave to the cellphone.

Due to our heavy cell use, it has resulted in many car accidents, leaving many injured and even death. At any given moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones, or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010. Day after day in the United States, over eight people are killed and approximately 1,161 are injured in crashes, that are rumored to be caused by a preoccupied driver. The typical distracted driver takes their eyes of the road for five seconds, when driving at 55mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field, blindfolded.

When Driving Leave Your Phone Alone

It is good practice to either put the phone on airplane mode well driving, or, leave it in the in the backseat. If that is too big of a temptation, just put it in the trunk, or even better, don’t bring it with you at all.

Turn Your Phone Off Before Bedtime

It’s a healthy practice to start shutting the phone off an hour before going to bed.

iPhone Users – Turn On Night Shift All Day

If you’re an iPhone user, they just came out with an update, that allows you to put your phone on Night Shift. It turns your phone to a warm orangey backlight. So it’s not as hard on the eyes. And you can leave it on all day!

It’s simple to turn on: Settings > Display & Brightness > Night Shift

Change Your Phone to Black and White

There has been a drastic rise in people suffering from insomnia. Part of this rise, has to do with staring at those bright screens, colors of all sorts, stimulating your brain, tricking it into not shutting down properly, to get a good night’s rest. With the stimulating colors that keep you coming back for more, you can actually turn your phone to black and white. People have reported by doing this, it made it easier for them to stop looking at it as often.

To access this on the iPhone: Settings > Accessibility > Turn Grayscale On

To access this on a Samsung: Apps > Settings > Developer Options > Simulate Color Spaces > Enable

Get a Better Sleep and Leave the Phone Out of the Bedroom

And leave the phone out of the bedroom! Use an actual alarm clock if necessary.

When out for a Walk Leave Your Phone at Home

Some data suggests, “that at any given moment on the streets of America, 60 percent of pedestrians are distracted while walking, meaning either on the phone or doing something on their phone,” said Alan S. Hilibrand of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. “It’s a bit of a startling number.”

When you want to go for a stroll, It’s good habit to start leaving the phone at home. Or if ones inclined to listen to music, just turn it to airplane mode and let it run through your play lists.

Addicted to Games on Your Phone? Just Delete Them

If you had to guess how many hours a week do you waste playing games on your phone? If you can’t seem stay off those games, then you should delete them. Nothing like spending your time looking at your phone, you must have people in your life you could be spending time with.

Get Rid of Those Annoying Phone Sounds

A good idea to find less distraction, is to turn off all sounds on the phone. And if need be, for work, just leave it on vibrate. Nothing more irritating than listening to someone else’s, or your own for that matter, the phones dinging and making all sorts of ear penetrating noises, as they receive text after text, like after like, email after email. It’s good habit to turn off all notifications and sounds associated with it.

Schedule Set Times to Look at the Phone

One can set up a schedule for set times to check emails, social media, even texts. It could look something like this:

Hour after awaking – check e-mail and texts.

Lunchtime – check and answer any important texts.

Two hours before bed – check social media, check texts say your necessary good-byes and send or respond to any important e-mails. If you have to, maybe a quick game. Challenge yourself to limit your time to a half hour. Try and see if you can limit your phone checking to three times a day.

No Phones at the Table

As a family, one could start implanting rules, such as; no phones an hour during supper time. Too possibly, hours on a Sunday, and do things together as a family, rather than isolating one’s self to the phone, locking yourself in the bedroom.

Remove Electronics from Kids Before Bedtime

Take away all electronics from the kids, an hour or so before bed. If kids start to develop insomnia young, later in life, could lead to mental illness, such as, depression and anxiety disorders.

Keep Phone out of Bathrooms

Test yourself to not use the phone in the restroom, instead, read a magazine or book.

Try no phone usage at social events. Social events are designed to talk to others, not others that aren’t there on your cell.

Leave Phone Alone During Intimate Conversation

No phone usage during in-person conversations. If you’re talking with someone, resist to look down at your phone. Can come off as ignorant and it is impolite.

Get Apps to Help Break the Addiction

There are apps you can utilize to track and restrict your smartphone usage. These are background ran apps, so they won’t distract you.

Here are some apps to help break the obsession:

Moment (iOS). With this app, you can track how much you use your iPhone, as well as iPad. You can set daily usage limits, and choose to receive notifications when you exceed those limits.

Rescue Time (Android). This app helps you understand your phone usage patterns, so you’ll know how to become more productive. It gives you a detailed breakdown of how much time you spend using different categories of apps.

AppDetox (Android). AppDetox allows you to set phone usage rules. For example, you can prevent yourself from opening your email app after 8pm every day. Or you can limit the number of times you open your text messaging app each day, among other types of restrictions.

Wear a Watch, Instead of Checking your Phone for the Time

How many times in a day do you check the time on your phone. You have to first pull it out of the pocket or purse, find the button to see the time. If you had a watch you could just look at your wrist.

Create a Long Drawn Out Password

Passwords are usually meant to kept others out. Set a long drawn out password to lock yourself out, so it is a hassle to get in. It’ll be annoying to the point where you don’t want to get in as often.

Get Out of Those Annoying Group Chats

When you get stuck in those pesky group chats, just mute them, or just op out of them.

Do Some Deep Breathing Exercises

When you feel the urge to check the phone, instead, shut your eyes, and focus solely on your breathing, taking in deep breathes in and out. Continue to do so, until the urge passes through. It is like seeing a nice car drive by, you focus on it until it leaves your sight and mind.

Create a Support Group

Form a support group, similar to those you would find in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Discuss topics of which helped you to break the habit. Have close friends to talk to about it, that are not going to pass judgment.

Keep a Journal

Journaling can be a powerful tool to help track your progress. Keep it close by or just at night, write out what’s been working and what has not been. Include a one to ten scale, based on the urges you may have felt that day.

Find Better Ways to Occupy Your Time

Take up new hobbies, find ways to keep busy. Join a sports team or a book club. Go to that spin class you’ve had as a goal since New Year’s. Join a gym. Instead of reading the nonsense on others social media pages, read a book or magazine.

Meditate or do yoga. There are plenty of resources that can teach you both. You can find free 30-day yoga challenges on YouTube, or find plenty of videos on how to meditate. They are great tools to calm the overstimulated brain down.

Get Rid of Social Media Apps

Delete all social media apps on your phone. They won’t be there to distract you. Use the set times you scheduled for yourself to then check social media through a browser. Even Better, permanently delete your social media accounts.

It is time to stop letting your phones run your life. Spend more quality time with others. You’d be surprised how productive you can become. Stop looking down, and start looking up, and see this big beautiful world we all inhabit.