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How addicted are we to our cell phones?

It’s about time we all admitted we’re too addicted to our cell phones. From non-stop selfie-taking to endless scrolling through Twitter and Instagram, it’s easy to forget to put the tech down – even in situations when we really need to.

To find out just how bad the problem is, we surveyed just over 1000 adults about their cell addiction. We wanted to find out when they used their phones, how reluctant they are to give them up and what they’d give up to keep them – and our findings were telling.


The first thing we do

Situations

When we asked people which situations they used their cell in, it became clear there’s a link between our phone use and our sleep.

A huge 67% of respondents admitted to checking their phone before they turned in, while a similar 66% said it was the first thing they do when they wake up. This could be problematic; numerous studies have shown that screen time shortly before bed affects the quality of our sleep, leaving us feeling more tired the next day.

Overall, it seems we’re more inclined to use our phones around friends than with family, but men were more likely than women to do so either way, with 63% ignoring friends and 67% blanking out on family.


Wedding woes

While checking apps during TV time or on the toilet were popular answers – as you might expect – from men and women alike, our survey threw out some pretty shocking results.

It turns out, men are four times more likely than women to take their cell out during a wedding or a funeral. And it doesn’t stop there – a shocking 67% of guys said they’d browse their apps while on a romantic night out, compared with just 13% among the ladies.


Bye to beer?

Rather without graph

There were even bigger shocks when we asked our respondents what they were willing to give up instead of saying goodbye to their smartphone. Alcohol and video games were popular options for both men and women, but the similarities stopped there. Women were three times more reluctant to give up new clothes and twice as willing to give up sex. Sorry fellas, maybe all that app-hopping while dating is a turn off after all?

To delve deeper into the causes of our cell addiction, we investigated what it is we miss when we don’t have our smartphones with us. You’d probably assume it’s missing out on social media that’d we’d find hardest, but only 8% of respondents gave this answer. It was in fact the cell’s original function – the handy phone call – we didn’t want to be without, with 41% citing it as the thing most missed when without a phone.

Women were twice as likely to miss their phone because they can’t take a photo or video, while 83% of men said that not being able to stream movies and TV shows was the worst part – compared with just 17% of women.


Is it time for a detox?

Detox graph

After all that, you’d think a collective detox might not be such a bad idea, right?

Our survey found that 70% of people don’t think they need a cell detox at all. By a ratio of 56:44, women were slightly more likely to think a detox would be a good idea, even though only 6% of people had actually tried it.

It seems we’re well aware of the huge effect our cell addiction is having on our lives, but we’re not prepared to do much about it. Not quite yet, anyway.


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