By Alexandra Rice
for the Chronicle
Michelle Fox had just fallen asleep when her cellphone buzzed on the night table. She read the text message from her friend, thought about answering it, but then remembered her early class and instead tried to fall back to sleep. But Ms. Fox, a senior at the University of Rhode Island, couldn't stop thinking about the message and how her friend might be upset with her if she didn't respond.She had to answer the text.
Many people, especially young adults, feel a sense of attachment to their phones and view the devices as a social lifeline that they can't do without, even when the anxiety the phones produce keeps them up at night, say researchers studying students' use of cellphones.
Sue K. Adams, an assistant professor of human development and family studies at Rhode Island, wasn't thinking about cellphones when she asked her students to keep sleep journals—she was just curious about their sleeping habits. But through those journal entries, she began to notice the effects phones were having on their sleep.
This is why, when I discovered Bedside Mode on my Blackberry, I decided it was the best thing ever.
ReplyDeleteGeez. Just turn on the airplane mode, or whatever your equivalent is.
ReplyDelete"Bedside mode," "airplane mode?" are these the new words for "off?" I just can't keep up anymore...:(
ReplyDeleteWhich is why my kids aren't allowed to have their cellphones in their rooms after 9:00 pm. Thinking I better extend that to iPods since they obsessively email too.
ReplyDeleteI love my phone, but I don't want it to rule me, so I took a few simple steps to keep me in charge:
ReplyDelete1. I keep the sound turned off by default unless I'm expecting an important call.
2. I activate the vibrate feature only if I'm going into a meeting and am expecting an important call.
3. I turned off almost notifications so the damned thing isn't constantly telling me I have an email or a move in a word game or a Facebook update.
4. When I sleep, it's by my bedside but turned over so I can't see it light up should anything happen during the night. If I do get insomnia, I can take it out and read news or play games or whatever, but it's not constantly sending its beacon to get me to pick it up.
I like having so much information and amusement at my disposal, but all the dings and lights and demands got to be too much for me, so I had to find a way to let the phone know who's boss.
"Bedside mode," "airplane mode?" are these the new words for "off?"
ReplyDeleteThe damned new gadgets can't be turned "off." All you can do is cut them off from their input. EnglishDoc walked you through the stuff you have to do if you don't just want to use a single setting.
Airplane mode: Don't call me Shirley!
ReplyDelete(or possibly, "Siri")
Bedside mode allows you to use the phone as a clock/alarm clock without getting any calls/texts/updates etc.
ReplyDeleteOr, there's buying a clock and leaving the gadget in another room. Works great for me.
ReplyDeleteI also read an article recently on sleep texting. Apparently it's the new sleepwalking.
ReplyDelete