Are you addicted to your mobile phone?

What’s the first thing you do after you open your eyes in the morning? Is it to grab your phone? What about the last thing you do before going to sleep? If you scroll your tweets and check your emails, then it’s time to consider that you’re addicted to your mobile.

Your smartphone, your trusty device used for everything, your diary, time keeper, entertainment and way of keeping in contact with everyone. 1 in 5 people check their phone every ten minutes, and a third of people have said that even brief periods of time without their mobile result in feelings of anxiety. One particular study has found a link between excessive phone use and stress, sleep disturbances and depression. These statistics indicate that many people are suffering from a condition known as nomophobia –“no mobile phone phobia” or in other words, serious cell phone addiction!

Symptoms of nomophobia include:

• Experiencing anxiety or panic over losing your phone
• Obsessively checking for missed calls, emails, and texts
• Using your phone in inappropriate places
• Missing out on opportunities for face-to-face interactions

Hang up your cell phone addiction with these three top tips:

Use a real watch or clock.
When you use your phone as your timekeeper it is very easy to get sucked into using another app or sending another email. Using a real watch or alarm clock will spare you that extra temptation.

Schedule some of your free time
If you know you will be free why not try and schedule in an activity so you are not drawn to spend all your free time on your phone. If you are spending time with family and friends, you should all make a deal to put your in a place you won’t hear or see it so you can all enjoy each other’s company without distractions.

Set Timers
If you respond to every text and email the second it arrives, try setting your phone alarm and only reply at predetermined time such as morning, midday, and evening. Alternatively, put your phone on silent and stop alert notifications.

Have any great tips of your own to share? Leave a comment below, or tweet us @QVOffices