Statistics reveal there are roughly 4.93 billion mobile phone users worldwide. By 2019, that number is expected to jump to 5.07 billion. As a consumer demographic, we’re more connected and on than we’ve ever been and it’s thanks in large part to smart devices that enable us to check-in on the go. Now, we can scroll our tablet while waiting for our food at a restaurant. We can check our email while riding the subway or call into a conference meeting from halfway around the world.
In many ways, this connectedness has helped us. Innovations including Video Teleconferencing (VTC) and chatbots have sprung out of users’ needs to be in more than one place at once or do more than one task at the same time. We can’t be working on-site at a construction job but also present for the 9:00 all-hands meeting, so we Skype into it. We can’t navigate a complex website and problem solve simultaneously, so we contact a chatbot to help us find the answers to our virtual questions. We’re creating and absorbing an incredible amount of Big Data each day, and mobile devices help us make sense of the ever-growing Internet of Things.
Yet, are these tools costing us? A new study suggests that mobile users can become stressed by the instant accessibility that smartphones afford. If we wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep, that familiar blue glow beckons us to check and see if that important email came in. If it did, we’re already jarred awake, so we might as well fire up the laptop and get a little work done, right? Wrong, if you want to value your sanity, say experts.
Obsessively checking mobile devices can lead to an almost immediate rise in stress levels, creating within us anxiety that says if we’re not always in the know, we’re falling behind the lightning fast pace of recent news. Another service that’s adding to that effect is text alerts. In a nutshell, when consumers frequent a brand and want to stay in the loop about new deals, discounts, or offerings, they’ll often add their name to an e-newsletter or SMS messaging program that allows them to opt-into receiving promotional messages. These are similar to push alerts, which are traditionally denoted by those little red numbers that pop up next to your favourite social media apps on your home screen.
Anytime users receive a notification on one of those appson push alert pops up on the page. It’s usually also accompanied by a dinging sound. Unless you’re part of the smartphone population which leaves their device on silent or vibrate practically all the time, you’ll hear that familiar noise and feel the instant urge to check and see what just happened. Especially if you have myriad apps set up to send push notifications, you could be hearing that ding and seeing that flashing page on a very frequent basis throughout the day.
As a result, your stress levels can rise, and your productivity levels can drop. That instant rush of excitement can quickly give way to feelings of nervousness, inadequacy, and an intense anxiety to respond.
So what’s the viable alternative? Are we supposed to simply revert back to flip phones and eschew the incredible momentum we’ve created in the field of mobile communication? Hardly. In the right context, these devices can be extremely valuable tools. The key to leveraging them correctly without going crazy over the instantaneous nature of it all is to be selective.
Are there certain apps where you absolutely need to be aware of every single update or change? If so, keep these activated with the noise and pop-ups turned on. An example might be a medicine management app that keeps you on track with your prescriptions. You wouldn’t want to miss a single notification from there.
On the other hand, you may have other apps that aren’t nearly as time-sensitive and critical to your day to day life. For instance, if you’re not looking to spend any money on clothes anytime soon, you might want to turn off notifications from your favourite retailer. There are even many apps you can install that will make it difficult or almost impossible for you to access those apps for a period of time. This is an ideal solution when you’re rushing to meet a work deadline but can’t stop scrolling Facebook an hour before it’s due. Your stress levels and your pocketbook will both thank you!
While you’re performing this exercise, whittle down your list by asking yourself these three questions:
- Do I need to be notified immediately if something changes on this app?
- What will happen if something changes and I’m not aware of it?
- Could you turn those notifications off for a day and still be fine?
These inquiries will help guide you toward taking an honest look at the information that’s being delivered to you, and what purpose it is serving. There is a time and a place for mobile messaging and in many instances, it’s an important and even critical component of modern communications. Still, by taking the time to take inventory of how those little pop-ups make you feel, you can better control their effect over you. This is an important first step toward a healthier relationship with the screen.
