I realized why most in NJ are glued to their phones… it’s not good

Most likely, you shouldn't be reading this story right now. But yet, here you are. The big question is, what should you be doing right now?

Are you at work and just trying to give yourself an escape from the office? Or, are you at home tuning out your surroundings just so you can focus on what's right in front of you?

Or maybe you are winding down right now or taking a time out just to escape the real world for a little bit. Whatever the reason, you're here now reading this very story I have written for you about why you're most likely glued to your phone.

And no, reading this story isn't part of the problem. Yes, it may be distracting you, but that's actually a better reason than what I've observed to be the true reason.

Now before I get into it, I will say that this is solely based on what I've noticed with people I know from both inside and outside of work for many years. Heck, I'm even guilty of this and I know it's bad.

How much time do you spend staring at your phone over work-related tasks? The big one is probably emails, but there are occasionally other things thrown in there such as texting or company-based documents.

Now think about this. How often do you check your phone for work-related tasks during times when you're technically not supposed to be working in the first place? For some of us in New Jersey, it might be more often than we'd like to admit.

And of course the most dangerous one. How often do you check for work-related emails and tasks while behind the wheel? I see it a lot where people have their phones up to their steering wheel looking at the screens. Could work be one of those reasons?

Even if it's for a little bit, it certainly has become a bigger problem over the years than it used to be. Why are we so glued to our phones handling work tasks during hours we shouldn't be?

On the flip side, why do we get distracted to look at our phones while at work to do things that are nowhere remotely related to the task at hand? Could that be you right now?

Listen, you're not alone. I can promise you a lot of us do this, and it's terrible that we do. What should make life easier has actually blurred the lines to the point that we don't know when to properly disconnect anymore.

Jobs are tough, I get it. So many of us might hate our jobs and need that escape while at work, but yet keep checking our work emails during off-hours because we're so paranoid about what might happen if we don't.

I understand that back in 2020 we needed our screens differently because we were all locked down at home. But now that we are practically five years away from that, shouldn't we be trying to discipline ourselves a little better and go back to ignoring all those work tasks when we would be off in the first place?

Our phones are such a distraction in so many ways, and that's OK. Work for many can get boring and I personally don't think it's such a bad thing to have that occasional escape (it's OK, we all do it sometimes).

But during those off-hours, let's all make that resolution now to try and break that habit of checking for work when we shouldn't be... especially when behind the wheel (actually, we shouldn't be using our phones for ANYTHING behind the wheel).

As for those of you in New Jersey who are disciplined and keep work separate, I just have one thing to say to you. Way to go!

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.