For our Digital Detox month, HuffPost UK Lifestyle are looking into the benefits of switching off our devices and re-connecting with ourselves.
But do we really need a detox at all? Is our technology addiction really that bad?
Well, actually, judging from the statistics.... yes, it really is. These shocking facts reveal the true extent of our reliance on technology.
1. The average person checks their phone every six and a half minutes. In a study conducted by Nokia, it was revealed in the 16 hours most people are awake per day, they check their phones a whopping 150 times.
2. The Nokia study also found one in four of us admit to spending more time online each day than we do asleep.
3. According to a survey of over 1,500 adults by OnePoll, Britons spend an estimated 62 million hours each day on social media.
4. The same survey found more than a quarter (26%) of women in the UK checked Facebook at least 10 times a day compared to less than one in five men (18%).
5. Twitter and Facebook have been labelled as more addictive than smoking. A study by retailer ECigaretteDirect.co.uk quizzed more than 700 people about aspects of modern life they would struggle to quit. Social networking sites came top of the list, scoring almost a quarter (24%) of the vote.
6. Almost 70% of children think their parents spend too much time on their mobile phone, iPad or other similar devices. A study, conducted by Opinion Matters, found over a third of children worry their parents are incapable of switching off their devices.
7. Reports claim by the time they reach the age of seven, the average child born in 2013 will have spent an entire year of their lives in front of a screen.
8. According to a government report, the proportion of young people playing computer games for two hours or more a night during the week in England increased from 42% to 55% among boys and 14% to 20% among girls between 2006 and 2010.
9. In 2010 a study by the Pew Research Centre in Washington DC found one in three teenagers was sending over 100 text messages per day.
Have you got any to add? SHARE this article if you think other people might benefit or email HuffPost UK Lifestyle with your digital detox suggestions.
SEE ALSO:
Social Media Addiction: Facebook And Twitter Beat Smoking As The Hardest Thing To Give Up
This Is What Social Media Does To Your Brain (Warning: It's Not Pretty)
