You might remember a little while back I wrote a post about a piece of work done by Dr. Jim Taylor, entitled “Psychology of Technology: UI For U or I” – well now Dr. Jim has written another piece, called “Psychology of Technology: 5 Smartphone Rules to Live By” – and as before I’ve pulled in a couple of the rules to give you a preview. If you want more, you’ll have to go here.
Rule #1: Don’t look at your smartphone in the morning until you get to work. Peeking at your email or phone messages before you have dressed or had breakfast will create unnecessary distraction, worry, and stress. If you’re married with children, it will also prevent you from being engaged with your family during breakfast. In fact, don’t even look at your smartphone during the drive to work; again, it would serve no purpose as you can’t—or, at least, you shouldn’t—be thumb typing during your commute (unless you’re on a train or bus and you can respond to your phone and email messages).
Rule #4: Don’t check your smartphone less than 30 minutes before you go to bed. If there are calls or emails you think you must respond to you, you will get to bed later and you’ll get riled up, so you’ll have a harder time falling asleep. The reality is that, in most cases, they can wait until morning, so best not to look. At worst, choose a time between 30 and 60 minutes before bedtime when you take a last look at your smartphone. At best, commit to not checking your smartphone at all in the evening.
Again, if you want to read the rest of the rules, go here.
[Via: Dr Jim Taylor]