Get off your phone.
That’s the message that needs to be spread after two recent studies found that roughly 176 million people check their phones more than 60 times per day.
Let those numbers sink in.
I’m not anti-phone or anti-technology. If my analytics tell me the truth, odds are you’re probably reading this on a mobile device right now. And I’m glad you are. But when you’re done with this, I hope you forward to a friend and then bury your phone for the rest of the day. Or at least check it much less than 60 times.
Mobile devices are not the problem; it’s our addiction to them, which is distracting us from the most important things in this world. I’m pro-living. I like seeing people, paying attention to my surroundings, and enjoying the simple dumb things that occur every second of the day.
Life doesn’t occur on your phone no matter what apps or social platforms you have. (And this comes from a guy who loves Twitter.) There’s a time and a place for technology. But those times should be fewer and farther between.
Living occurs outside the device and inside the real moments you have with people.
This isn’t directly about health, but you’d be mistaken if you don’t think your virtual reality doesn’t have potential risks. Social isolation is linked to everything from cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis. While it’s not a direct relationship, social well being leads to lower levels of interleukin-6, which is an inflammatory factor. People who lack in-person contact also are more likely to suffer from depression, have high blood pressure, and could even push people towards poor eating and sleeping behaviors.
The connections are everywhere, but in this case, you don’t need science to know what’s right. Instead, acknowledge what’s happening and focus on what makes sense.
I watch people every day miss out on so much because their heads are buried in their phones.
People on first dates sit and play on phones rather than talk and share the experience.
Fans at sporting events or concerts spend more time taking pictures showing where they are instead of just being at and enjoying the event.
Hell, we can’t even walk down the street without enjoying our surroundings and detaching from your phone.
Technology should add to your life, not take you away from living it.
The moment that we lose touch with creating experiences with people and events is the moment that we stop being human and start being robots.
When all is said and done, do you want to look back on your life and recall all the fun you had playing on Facebook, or do you want to recall the real memories that you created and experienced?
“Get busy living or get busy dying.”
The choice is always an easy one.
Adam Bornstein is a New York Times bestselling author and the author of You Can’t Screw This Up. He is the founder of Born Fitness, and the co-founder of Arnold’s Pump Club (with Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Pen Name Consulting. An award-winning writer and editor, Bornstein was previously the Chief Nutrition Officer for Ladder, the Fitness and Nutrition editor for Men’s Health, Editorial Director at LIVESTRONG.com, and a columnist for SHAPE, Men’s Fitness, and Muscle & Fitness. He’s also a nutrition and fitness advisor for LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, Lindsey Vonn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. According to The Huffington Post, Bornstein is “one of the most inspiring sources in all of health and fitness.” His work has been featured in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, ESPN, and GQ, and he’s appeared on Good Morning America, The Today Show, and E! News.