Well if you have the winter blahs, you may want to spend less time staring at a screen. Between our computers, tablets, TVs and smart phones, the average adult in the U.S. spends 11 hours a day looking at various screens.
Jason Strong with AT&T joined us on Wisconsin Tonight to about taking a break from your smart phone, without totally disconnecting.
Wearables help you break free from your screen for a while, but still stay connected.
1. Fitbit Blaze - With call, text, and calendar alerts, you can see smart notifications on screen and swipe them away to move on with your day. Also measure steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes, hourly activity, and stationary time on the hi-res color touchscreen.
2. Fitbit Alta – Similar notification functions, just smaller.
3. Gear S2 Receive calls, texts, email and notifications with or without your smartphone. In fact, you can leave the phone behind completely and still make and receive calls and text messages on your smart watch.
These are all great for the person who says, “I can’t be away from my phone!” The small screens let you see what’s coming in and decide if it can wait until later so you can enjoy the moments you’ve set aside to make memories with those who matter most.
There are also apps that can help you track your smartphone usage:
1. BreakFree
a. Do you think you’re addicted to your smartphone?
b. The BreakFree app monitors your smartphone use and sends you friendly notifications to let you know when you’ve been on a particular app or phone call for a while.
c. You can also set up tools that will disable the Internet or reject phone calls for particular periods of time. Free
2. Checky
a. Checky is a really basic app that tells you how many times a day you check your phone and where you’re checking it.
b. It’s great for at-a-glance tracking of your daily phone use patterns. Free
3. AT&T Drive Mode
a. Smartphone use behind the wheel is a big culprit of distracted driving, which causes nearly 40% of all traffic accidents.
b. To help you keep your eyes on the road and not on your phone, the AT&T Drive Mode app silences new text notifications and sends an autoreply that you’re driving and can’t respond. Free
