Keys to unhook from the mobile

Former workers of the great technology companies of Silicon Valley join together to warn of the risk of technology

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), addiction "is a physical and psycho-emotional illness that creates a dependence or need to a substance, activity or relationship."

The international body adds that "to be able to speak of physical and psychological dependence, people present three or more of the following criteria in a period of 12 months." Among the notes made by WHO is the need to consume a substance, withdrawal syndrome or persistence in the use of the substance despite clearly perceiving its harmful effects.

Although the use of smartphones has doubled in the last five years, according to WHO's definition it is not an addiction. In Spain, 42% of users do not spend more than 60 minutes without consulting messages , according to data provided by Phone House.

In addition, a study by Intel Security claims that 55% of people on vacation are not able to disconnect their phones.

Apple and Google have already put to work to create native applications so that users "can manage the use they make of their mobile phone." Precisely, former employees of Apple, Alphabet, Facebook or Mozilla have joined in an organization with the aim of redefining the use made of technology.

Center for Humane Technology has been working since 2013 to raise awareness of the problem of new technologies and how you are "taking over our minds", the founders say on their website.

The proposals of Center for Humane Technology are addressed to all strata of society: public authorities, the technological sector and, of course, also the users. For the latter, the former workers of Silicon Valley move nine small tips to get "disengage from technology."

The first recommendation is not to sleep with your mobile . According to a report by Motorola, about two out of ten Spaniards have their smartphone on hand 24 hours a day and 66.6% check their notifications before going to sleep.

Once overcome the fear of separating from the mobile, at least at night. The experts at the Center for Humane Technology recommend a mobile cleaning , since each user, only Android, in Spain has installed 28 applications, according to Uptodown. «Clean the home screen and leave in it only applications that we really want to use with frequencies.

Those that we do not want to use so much, to a folder or to the second page ", they indicate as one of the recommendations.

In the cleaning they have to enter the social networks and «use them only from the computer». Also, end the notifications, except "of those that we want". In this section comes into play the famous FOMO syndrome that means fear of missing something in social networks or being excluded from an event, which forces those who suffer this syndrome to remain connected to the Internet.

Finally, the Center for Humane Technology recommends returning to the screens of the first mobile phones, since gray scale is less addictive than a color screen.