By Rebecca Bennett

“Smartphone owners ages 25-44 use the greatest number of apps per month (29 apps, on average), but 18-24 year-olds spend the most time on them (37 hours, 6 minutes). Time spent does decrease with age, but apps are clearly playing a big role in the lives of all smartphone users. Case in point: Even those aged 55+ spend more than 21 hours across an average of 22 different apps per month” and “they’re spending 31 percent more time than they were last year,” according to data pulled by Nielsen in 2013.

As a busy executive being on call all the time, it’s exciting to see where your next opportunity may be and always want to be the 1st to know. But admit it, as much as you want to check that text that just came in, you don’t want to look at another screen again.  The reason could be one of the following:

Symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Fatigued eyes
• Blurry vision
• Trouble focusing your vision
• Headache
• Sensitive finger tips
• Hard to concentrate

If you are experiencing these symptoms then you may have “screen-sickness,” a coin termed by LAUNCH!’s founder, Rebecca Bennett, and a growing trend in today’s culture. Here are some things you can do to avoid “screen sickness” and alleviate the symptoms:

1.             Turn on your “Do Not Disturb” setting (specifically for iPhones and iPads, but other mobile devices will have similar setting)
2. a)If you don’t feel comfortable turning on this setting, you can adjust the time of day that it is on. For example, do you really need to know that text message came in while you were sleeping?
3. b)You can set up VIP people (Favorites) who’s calls and texts you want to be notified about.
4. c)You can set it up to allow repeat calls to come through, a good idea if someone is trying to reach you in an emergency.
5. d)You can adjust when you want silence: Always or only while your phone is locked

2. Turn off all notifications that aren’t important to you, especially on all those less used apps. Go to your Settings (specifically for iPhones and iPads, but other mobile devices will have similar setting) and go to your Notifications bar.

3. Place your mobile device face down.

4. Put your screen away.Out of site, out of mind.

5.   Put a screen-lock timer app on your device. 

We recommend

1. Evobecause it is cross-platform
2. Dejalfor desktop and iOS platforms and
3. Stretchis good for those of your who need to move around

6. Spark up a conversation with people you’re standing in line with.

7. Download a phone-checking tracker app that counts how many times a day you checked your phone or how long you were active on it and set goals for yourself to reduce those. We recommend
8. Checky iOS app
9. Moment iOS app
10. Andriod user? Use Menthol

8. Remove apps you haven’t usedin the past month. You can always

download them again later.

9. Do a hot-cold compress on your eyes. Seep in

mint, lavender or cinnamon tea for additional

anti-inflammation benefits.

10. Customize your Soundsunder Settings so

that way you can differentiate which ones to

ignore and which ones need your attention.

11. Adjust the brightness settingon

your screen so that it matches your

work environment, usually somewhere between

50-95%. On the iPhone, go to Settings and Display

and Brightness.

12. Adjust the text size and styleon your screen to make is easier

to read.

1. Under Settings, go to Display and Brightness to adjust.
2. In Internet browsers, such as Safari, adjust using the

text-sizing icon.

13. Close your eyes and engage your other senses.Put some hand lotion on and let the smell bring you in the moment as you close your eyes.

14. Clear your mindthrough meditation. Not very good at this? Search for a meditation guide video on

YouTube that you can close your eyes and listen to on your headphones.

15. Perform breathing exerciseswith your eyes closed or focused on something distant.

16. Enjoy the viewwhenever you can.

17. Take a walkto get a refreshing beverage without a screen on you.

18. Dip your fingers in a cup of cold water.

19. Take a cat nap.

20.Watch the distance you hold your screen to your face. Between elbow and arms length is good.

SOURCES

SMARTPHONES: SO MANY APPS, SO MUCH TIME. Nielsen. July 2014. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2014/smartphones-so-many-apps–so-much-time.html