Have you ever wondered how long you’d be able to last without your phone? What about how long you’d be able to go without TV? A survey of around 2,000 British people which was commissioned by Tesco Mobile sought to understand that, and the findings were quite surprising to say the least.
For one thing, the study zeroed in on how necessary the internet was for people’s overall lifestyles. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that around 71% of the people who responded to this survey stated that they wouldn’t be able to go through life if they had to avoid using the internet for extended periods of time.
56% said that they would very likely stop communicating with all that many people if they no longer had their phone by their side. On average, people could go about 5 hours and 11 minutes away from their phones, whereas they could only spend about 3 or so hours away from their laptop computers.
That might make it seem like people are dealing with crippling smartphone addictions, but in spite of the fact that this is the case there are some clear signs that there is more at play here. For one thing, 56% of people said that having their phones makes them more social than might have been the case otherwise, and 57% said that their smartphones are critical for their mental wellbeing.
49% of survey respondents also stated that they need to use the internet as well as their smartphones specifically because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them to do their jobs. That reveals just how crucial our phones have become to our everyday lives, and it seems unlikely that all that many individuals would be able to decouple from this essential technology anytime soon.
The approximately 3 hours and 34 minutes of screentime that smartphones receive every single day goes towards a wide range of activities all of which are pretty essential with all things having been considered and taken into account. For example, 45% of people say that they use their smartphones to check the news.
32% say that they use these devices to pay their bills in a much more convenient manner, 24% book medical appointments through smartphones and other similar gadgets 22% order groceries through various apps. That just goes to show that smartphones are a necessity, although making sure that their use does not feed into any kind of addictive tendencies will be something that people might struggle with.
Read next: The World Economic Forum’s insight on the largest global risks
For one thing, the study zeroed in on how necessary the internet was for people’s overall lifestyles. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that around 71% of the people who responded to this survey stated that they wouldn’t be able to go through life if they had to avoid using the internet for extended periods of time.
56% said that they would very likely stop communicating with all that many people if they no longer had their phone by their side. On average, people could go about 5 hours and 11 minutes away from their phones, whereas they could only spend about 3 or so hours away from their laptop computers.
That might make it seem like people are dealing with crippling smartphone addictions, but in spite of the fact that this is the case there are some clear signs that there is more at play here. For one thing, 56% of people said that having their phones makes them more social than might have been the case otherwise, and 57% said that their smartphones are critical for their mental wellbeing.
49% of survey respondents also stated that they need to use the internet as well as their smartphones specifically because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them to do their jobs. That reveals just how crucial our phones have become to our everyday lives, and it seems unlikely that all that many individuals would be able to decouple from this essential technology anytime soon.
The approximately 3 hours and 34 minutes of screentime that smartphones receive every single day goes towards a wide range of activities all of which are pretty essential with all things having been considered and taken into account. For example, 45% of people say that they use their smartphones to check the news.
32% say that they use these devices to pay their bills in a much more convenient manner, 24% book medical appointments through smartphones and other similar gadgets 22% order groceries through various apps. That just goes to show that smartphones are a necessity, although making sure that their use does not feed into any kind of addictive tendencies will be something that people might struggle with.
Read next: The World Economic Forum’s insight on the largest global risks
