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We are in the era of the digital world and the fact that the digital world keeps developing at a very rapid rate is something astonishing to see. Virtually everyone of us have access to smartphone and it looks like if you don't have access to one, you are living in another world. Smartphones have become one of the gadget that it looks so impossible not to do. They serve us a whole lot of purposes that we can not deny. They help us in communication, in internet world and generally to increase our productivity rate. 



![hands-1851218_1280.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/consistency/23vhnqP2bxn9RUk2KR693novH927zheQLhUL17DngShkgHWgWFN5dqntAunL6izWz6MLE.jpg)

[Image Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/hands-phone-smartphone-electronics-1851218/)


But even with the lots of benefits that smartphones have access to, excessive use of it has tremendous side effects that most of the time we did not pay attention to. It affects our mental health, affect our productivity, affect our emotional state and much more and that is why we need to put to check the excessive use of smartphones in as much as it is good for us. 



Let me even start by talking about the mental health aspect. Do you know that excessive use of smartphones also can affect your mental health. The more you stay glued to the screen of your phone, Medically it has been proven that it increases anxiety, increases depression and many more. Take for example the excessive stay on social media, sometimes it can release so much pressure and tension on you that you find it hard to cope with it. A lot of people suffering from depression and self pressure is because they stay so much on social media.


![man-1868730_1280.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/consistency/23zkkBLfxU4XFngvbecy9ZEV5Z7vv1e7jXutfgGJa7XxQUd4qd1Y8SteqpBsMoaTgJy54.jpg)

[Image Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/man-black-man-mobile-phone-person-1868730/)

Even though I make mention earlier that using smartphones can increase your productivity, but at the same time, if it is not properly balanced, instead of even increasing your productivity, it can even decrease your productivity because it can steal your focus. A lot of people are so much addicted to their smartphones do the point whereby they can't drop their phone and focus on some other part of their life. I remember when I was a student, this also affects me when I was glued to my phone and there are days I will fail to pick up my books to read academically.



Not only that, the fact that smartphones can enhance communication is the same way it can affect relationships negatively. If you are able to make proper use of smartphones, it can help to increase the communication skills you have but if you are not able to make proper use of it, it can affect relationships and communication. Sometimes people tend to be so glued to their phone that they even forget to actually spend quality time with their friends, families and love ones and at the end of the day it really affects them greatly. Sometimes, all we need to spend quality time with our families is to reduce the time we spend on our phones. 




There are also health issues that comes with you spending time on your phone. Sometimes, spending quality time with your smartphones can affect your eyes. Sometimes it can causes so much addiction that your body system will not be able to run properly if you did not have access to smartphones in a day. All these things I have talked about today is to open our eyes to see that even though making use of smartphones is good, it still have it's own side effects which we must be very cautious of. There should be more public enlightenment on how to use phones.









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# <center>For Further Studies</center>


- https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/cell-phones/simple-ways-to-reduce-your-cell-phone-screen-time-a1120466770/




- https://www.restartlife.com/dumb-down-your-smartphone-7-tips-to-reduce-excessive-usage-and-boost-your-productivity/



- https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2022/4/20-1



- https://www.becomingminimalist.com/break-your-cell-phone-habit/


- https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/addiction/smartphone-addiction



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