Cell phone distraction is a term that has been coined to describe the situation that occurs when people are so distracted by their mobile phones that they don’t notice important things that are happening in the world around them. We’ve all heard about those people who are so busy chatting away on their mobile phones that they walk right out in front of traffic and get hit by a car. With mobile phone use more frequent now than ever before it’s probably important that we’re at least aware of what we’re not aware of when we’re talking on our cell phones. We’ll still want to use our cell phones every day but we can use our awareness of cell phone distraction to remember to focus when it’s time to do so.

Ten things that you should probably notice but which you might miss if you’re busy on your mobile phone are:

1. Clowns and gorillas. There have been several studies which have proven that cell phone distraction exists. The most recent one was a study done by Western Washington University Researchers who monitored what happened with pedestrians who passed by a clown riding a unicycle. That’s not a sight that you see every day so you would think that most people would notice it. However, people who were on their mobile phones were mostly oblivious to the fact that they had passed right by this sight. Less than ten percent of mobile phone users remembered seeing the clown when asked after the fact if they had seen anything unusual on their walk. When told that they had just passed such an odd sight only one in four students could remember seeing it. A similar study was done with a person in a gorilla suit passing by. These studies prove that cell phone distraction exists. The also indicate that if you’re using your mobile phone a lot then you’re probably missing out on seeing the weird and unusual things that happen in the world around you.

2. What’s happening in traffic. You aren’t only missing out on the fun stuff in the world when you spend too much time on your mobile phone. You’re also missing out on some really important things. We all know that driving while talking on a mobile phone is dangerous. There have also been problems for pedestrians who are talking on mobile phones and don’t notice the traffic that’s around them. This type of cell phone distraction is all too common and it leads to a lot of accidents every year. 

3. Danger lurking near you. There are other types of dangers in the world besides traffic accidents. You may be more likely to become the victim of a crime if you are walking and talking on your mobile phone. People who are walking alone at night and talking on their mobile phones usually aren’t paying attention to the threats that surround them. This puts them at risk of being mugged or attacked because they don’t perceive the dangers that they may have otherwise noticed.

4. A quality education. Students have always found ways to distract themselves during class but mobile phones are making distraction easier than ever before. Even though many schools have banned cell phones, a lot of students manage to sneak cell phone use into the classroom. Surfing the mobile web, texting their friends during class and playing games on the mobile phone are activities that all take away from a child’s ability to learn the material that they’re supposed to be learning in school. And guess what? Adults are guilty of this as well; they check their phones during meetings and presentations and fail to get all of the information that they’re supposed to be getting from the event. Moreover, mobile phones that ring or beep during class don’t just distract you from your own education but also impair the memory retention of other students in the class.

5. Important issues at work. There are already a lot of distractions in the workplace without the additional distraction of your mobile phone. These distractions compromise the quality of your work. You may miss important things when writing, editing or presenting your work if you’re distracted by your mobile phone. If you work in a job with dangerous equipment then the problem is even more serious.

6. Your own creative side. It’s not just your work that suffers when you’re distracted by your cell phone; it’s your creative side as well. This may or may not play into how well you do your work but it certainly affects your quality of life. People need downtime to daydream, find their muse and create. Self-expression of some sort is vital to human health. If you don’t take that downtime because you’re always on your cell phone then you’re missing out on your own chance to be creative.

7. Portions of movies and live theatre performances. You’re supposed to turn off your mobile phone whenever you enter a movie theater, live performance event or other public place where others might be distracted by the phone. Unfortunately, a lot of people either forget to turn their phones off or believe that putting phones on vibrate and texting instead of talking won’t be distracting. It’s distracting to others and it’s distracting to you. You’re missing out on relaxation time and missing portions of the things that you’ve paid good money to see if your phone is on during these events.

8. That you’re ruining your relationships. Your social life might improve because of the connection that you have to others through your mobile phone. However, spending too much time on your cell phone can be damaging to your primary romantic relationship and you might not even notice what’s happening since you’re too busy with the phone. If you find yourself answering calls during dates, texting your partner to avoid real communication or otherwise allowing your phone to intrude on your relationship then you may be facing the single life again soon. You might want to turn your mobile phone off and turn your eyes on your partner now and then.

9. That you might appear drunk to others. The aforementioned study with the clown on a unicycle also found that people who are walking and talking on their cell phones at the same time are “slower, less aware of their surroundings and weaving around more.” To the casual observer, this might end up making you look like you’re intoxicated.

10. That you’re being just plain rude. Cell phone etiquette is something that we all know a little bit about but we can easily fail to notice our own bad manners when we’re busy on the phone. We may talk louder than we need to, ignore the person we’re with because we’re busy updating our mobile Facebook accounts and reveal far more information than is polite in public because we aren’t aware that others are paying attention to us while we’re on our phones.

The good news is that we might eventually adapt to the distraction of our mobile phones and become more capable of multi-tasking in the real world while using them. Studies do indicate that people who initially find that their daily tasks are interrupted by ringing phones can quickly learn to adapt to the interruption and go on with their tasks without any problem. As we continue to use our mobile phones for more and more things in more and more places, we may get better at learning how to pay attention to everything that’s going on around us at the same time. In the meantime, we should at least try to be aware of the fact that our attention is compromised by mobile phone use and remember to use our phones safely in places where our attention is truly needed.