Are You Depending Too Much on Your Mobile Device?
Mobile technology does make our life easier – and funner. Now you can work, plan and connect at a touch of your finger tips. For business travelers – including office workers, professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between (like us who run online business and any other kinds of location independent business) – mobile devices and their apps make them more productive than ever.
So, mobile technology is great for all of us right?
Not quite.
The mobile apps and devices are all cool – they can help you do things better, too. However, just like the downside of social media, mobile technology also shares the same downside: More business travelers depend too much on their mobile device and are becoming addicted to mobile technology.
This new kind of tech addiction can be disruptive. Just check out this infographic to get the big picture:
As you can see, business travelers are depending too much on their mobile devices. Without them, they seem lost. Even they are willing to work while on vacation – simply because they can do so: Business travelers work 240 hours a day more than the average workers. 94 percent of them are even working on vacation. Workaholic? Might be the case…
To make matter worse, Wi-Fi is a more common tech today: With 95 percent own a smartphone and 64 percent own a tablet PC, business travelers are becoming more attached to WiFi than ever: According to the infographic, they are spending more than 16 hours a day within range of Wi-Fi. At home? Yes, they expect their house to have a Wi-Fi connection. They expect Wi-Fi to be also available at hotels, airports and the office.
The result of constant exposure to Wi-Fi and mobile technology is rather worrying: Business travelers are lost without them. To protect yourself from the EMF radiation from your devices consider a cell radiation blocker. Check out this interesting stat: 59 percent of business travelers feel disoriented, distraught or lonely without their smartphone for just a week. What’s more, they exercise less and addicted more to apps (like Facebook) and their mobile devices.
While increased productivity is well-sought after by employers, it’s taken its tool personally. Addiction, in any forms, is bad for your well-being. Addiction to technology also shares the same negative effect as any other addictions.
If there’s one good thing for business travelers who depend too much on their mobile devices, that would be the fact that they sleep more hours in a day; 75 percent sleep more than 6 hours per day due to the increased productivity; indeed, having adequate sleep is always good!
Takeaway
I personally somewhat addicted to technology, especially mobile technology. I feel the need to connect to the web whenever possible – mostly for work purposes. I do find it difficult for me to escape work as long as I have my laptop and/or my tablet with me. That’s why when I plan to do leisure travel, I tend to leave my work and mobile device behind. I even turned off my WiFi voluntarily simply because the fact that I can’t escape Wi-Fi!
So, if you asked me, the best advice I can give you in managing my addiction to mobile technology is this: When you are going to travel for leisure purposes, leave your smartphones, laptop and tablet behind. Although this is nearly impossible to many, it’s worth pursuing.
How about you? Are you having difficulty in staying away from work? Do you feel that you can’t live without your mobile device? Are you spending more time on your mobile device than with your friends and family? Please share your story by leaving a comment below!
About the Author
Ivan Widjaya A mobile entrepreneur who loves to work anytime, anywhere he wants. He runs several popular business blogs, make money online and live a geoarbitrage lifestyle. He typically works at home and travel with his family when he wants to, often without his business.
