How Your Obsession To Technology Is Affecting Your Life

As soon as your alarm rings, you’re on it. While you’re in the bathroom, on your work breaks, in bed at night. Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest—these days, access to technology is tapped straight into our veins. And if you were to run out the door without your cell phone in tow? Clearly a fate worse than death.

It’s no surprise that the integration of all things digital into our lives affects our brains and relationships—but how, exactly?

The folks at Happify, an app that focuses on the science of happiness, put together an infographic that looks at technology’s impact on our own stress, job productivity, and relationships.

If you imagine cell phones could be detrimental to a relationship (we’ve all suffered through a meal with someone who’s glued to their phone), think again: 74% of adults say the internet has had a positive impact on their marriage, and 41% of couples feel closer after texting. (Shout out to the winning word, er, emoji of 2014!)


And when it comes to the office, most of us have a collective problem turning it all off. A little over half of Americans (52%) check their email before and after work—even when taking a sick day. (Tsk, tsk!)

The addiction is real. Remember that day you left your smartphone at home? Researchers have found that “heart rates, blood pressure and stress levels of [study] participants spiked” when phones were out of reach.

Read on for more insight into your own complicated relationship with technology—then maybe re-think sleeping beside your iPhone.

From Self