Having a phone on you at all times is seemingly unavoidable for most people, yet there's actually a dangerous habit that millions engage in every single day that could be damaging relationships without you realizing.
Phones have become so advanced these days that you can do pretty much anything on them, and you'd be surprised quite how difficult it is to untether yourself from the gadget completely.
Some people have shown the unexpectedly positive effects on your health and cognitive ability that ditching your phone can bring, yet for most people this simply isn't possible on a day-to-day basis.
However, many of those same people are guilty of using their phone a little too much though, and it could actually have an unexpectedly negative impact on your relationships.
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As reported by the BBC, a new term dubbed 'phubbing' represents a new-found bad habit that's plaguing millions of relationships every day, and there's a good chance that you've been guilty of it from time to time too.
It refers to the action of unintentionally snubbing your significant other, friend, or family member in favor of looking at your phone, and it's surprising how easy this is to do without you even meaning it.
Social media is predictably the biggest culprit of this, especially following the rise of short-form focused apps like TikTok which are arguably engineered to turn your attention into an addiction, but it can also include anything that simply sees your eyes transfixed on the six-inch screen.
As a result, your partner might end up feeling as if they've been ignored, and it can have a serious effect on the bond between parent and child if the former is frequently reaching for their device.
While the solution to some might simply be to stop going on their phone altogether, for most people it can just be a move towards intentionality, where you only reach for the device when you specifically need it to do something.
This makes the times you do choose to pick up your phone a far more effective use of your time, and communicating why you're choosing to look at your phone to your partner can also help lessen any bad feelings that might emerge as a result of the action.
For example, telling your partner that you just need to quickly reply to a message or check your phone times lets them know that you're only going to be on the device for a short while, after which you'll be able to return your attention back to where it should be.
"It stops the other person feeling ignored," explains Dr Kaitlyn Regehr, an Associate Professor at University College London, adding that "it keeps you accountable, because you're less likely to drift into other apps or endless scrolling."
It might be worth giving this a try next time you have the urge to reach for your phone while around a significant other, as you never know quite how harmful your actions might end up being otherwise.