5 reasons why you should stop picking up your phone every 5 minutes

So I was listening to the radio today amidst the constant lamenting about a certain something in my head, when the DJ said something which caught my attention. She was saying something about how she used to be so addicted to her phone until one day she told herself to completely stop using her phone for the next 30 mins and how it was so hard, but once you did it once, twice and a couple more times, you'd eventually find yourself using your phone lesser and lesser.

I immediately went "yes! omg I need to do that" and proceeded to tell my friends that I'm not gonna touch my phone for the next 30 mins, which I..failed in less than 10 mins. Firstly, while crossing over to the opposite bus stop, I instinctively took my phone out wanting to check for the next bus time, before realising that I wasn't supposed to use my phone and gasped loudly, causing my friends to get a shock thinking that there was some creature or sth on the ground hahaha.

But what caused the failure of my plan to not use my phone was when I was overcome with excitement upon realising sth that I felt I had to immediately whatsapp the person involved about hahaha sigh. So anws, to ensure that I keep to my goal, here are 5 reasons why I (and all you other addicts out there) should stop touching my/your phone:

1. It allows you to actually live in the moment and truly immerse yourself in the present

So many a times I find myself using my phone whenever I'm out alone with nothing to do. So much so that I've practically mastered the art of walking (at a normal or faster pace) and texting/scrolling through news feeds at the same time. I was just thinking about the times when data plans and smart phones didn't exist and wondered what I actually did to pass time. Which made me realise that without this constant "distraction", I actually paid more attention to my surroundings, taking in the beautiful sights while on long bus rides or basically just letting my mind wander to thoughts of the day's happenings while taking long walks. I still do all these currently, but I guess just not as much cause half the time I'm checking my phone, looking for the latest notification.

2. You'll be able to spend proper quality time with those around you and actually give them the attention they deserve

Luckily, this is something I'm not really guilty of. Well, unless I'm in a big group and everyone starts talking out their phone, leaving me feeling all awkward and phone-less. Which honestly, happens quite often. I understand if you have to reply an important msg, or even to post a group photo on instagram, but when you're replying to your whatsapp once every 5 minutes or actually starting to scroll through your instagram feed, then that's just rude. Like okay, if your phone is more interesting than me/having a conversation with me, why are we hanging out again? And recently I was on the train and a couple boarded and sat directly infront of me. The guy immediately took out his handphone and got so engrossed in his game, he completely ignored the existence of his gf. All the girlfriend did was to put on a face of nonchalance, while gently putting her hand on her bf's lap. I mean okay, I get it that after a couple has been together for a considerably long period of time, there isn't a need to be in constant communication..but that image was just sad. Cause the guy just seemed so distant and as though he was in his own world..one in which didn't include anyone/anything else besides his phone.

3. No more "why isn't he replying me........." questions and dilemmas and also, you'll be turning the tables around

This unfortunately, is something I'm super guilty of :( Firstly, my phone is forever on silent mode hence I'd have to check it every once in awhile if I want to see if there's any new messages. Secondly, since I'm always checking my phone, I tend to see msges almost immediately as they come and reply just as quickly! Therefore if I'm texting someone that I'm interested in and everytime I check my phone there seems to be no reply, I'd start wondering if maybe "HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU (me)". Which often times just lead me to distancing myself from the person, which would be the right thing to do at times, but at others it might just result in a self fulfilling prophecy cause..people do actually have other stuff to do besides checking whatsapp every 10 minutes. So if you check your phone lesser, instead of waiting for replies, you'll be the one making others wait for replies instead! And, you also wouldn't have to wonder why you aren't getting a reply cause by the time you check your phone, hopefully after a considerable amount of time has passed, your reply would be sitting there waiting for you instead! And let's face it, people being people, the longer you have to wait for something, the more you want it. So yes, stop checking your phone every 10 minutes and let someone else do the waiting instead!

4. You won't feel the incessant need to scroll through your news feeds just for the sake of doing so

I don't know if this only applies to me, but whenever I'm bored I find myself picking up my phone to check Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even my email just because. And this happens even if the last time I checked them were just mere minutes ago. Like I'm just hoping that a notification or a new update would just somehow appear out of the blue to cure me of my boredom. It almost becomes like an automatic reaction. Sometimes I'd catch myself opening my email for the 3rd time in less than 10 minutes and wonder if I'm really all that bored. To add on (and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that does this), instagram/twitter have somehow become our "morning newspaper". We'd lie in bed, scrolling through pictures of people partying the night before or the awesome dinner that your friend had and muse over how inappropriate all these seem early in the morning. Not to mention, we're wasting precious sleep hours on these social networking sites and hitting the like button, when the only button we should be pressing is the one that says "snooze".

5. No more hassle of having to bring a portable charger around

I have no idea how it's possible, but just the other day I woke up at 6.20am and by the time I reached school at 8.30am, my phone was left with just 60% of its life. Of cause it didn't help that my whatsapp was being flooded with group messages and that I was reading my "morning newspaper" on instagram/twitter/fb. Nuff said. This point is pretty self explanatory.