Why You Need To Shut Down Your Phone At Least Once A Week

For many people, turning off their phone may be a small inconvenience they would rather not do — unless they absolutely have to. Recent studies show that over 50% of smartphone owners never switch off their phones (via SlickText).

If this sounds like you and you are wracked with panic, anxiety, and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) when you're not able to hear those familiar dings, then you should know that unplugging your phone is probably the best way to preserve your phone's life and perform at its best.

Experts do not recommend that you keep your phone on continuously. Instead, you should try to shut your phone down at least once a week. Once it's off, wait for a couple of minutes to let it completely reset before attempting to switch it on again. By doing this, you can clear your phone's cache and close any apps that make it slow.

Shutting down your phone prevents memory leaks, a common error encountered by smartphone owners. A memory leak occurs when an app requires a certain amount of memory for it to work but then fails to release it when it is not needed anymore (via Dropbox). If you notice that your phone's performance has slowed substantially, chances are a memory leak could be the issue. Other signs that your phone is experiencing this problem include: seeing your memory usage even when you're not using any apps, and experiencing frequent phone crashes.

Another reason why turning off your phone is a good practice is to not completely kill your battery. The typical lithium phone battery can last roughly 300 to 500 charge cycles (via The Conversation). This is when a battery charges up to 100% and then goes back down to 0%. After that, your device will not be able to perform at the same level and its charge capacity will decrease. Turning off your phone periodically is a way that you can preserve the battery longer and extend your phone's life

For many of us, smartphones are an indispensable part of our lives. Chances are if you are like most people it's often the first device you check in the morning when you wake up, and arguably the one you will use the most throughout the day.

The downside is that spending long amounts of time on the phone is not good for your mental or physical health. According to an article by the New York Times, time spent on smartphones can affect everything from self-esteem, relationships, creativity, attention span, and memory just to name a few. Even worse, it can raise the level of the stress hormones in our body, ultimately making us unhealthier and shortening our lives (via New York Times). It also prevents you from getting the sleep you need due to the light it emits whenever it's on.

All in all, scheduling downtime from your phone periodically is highly beneficial for your overall health and your phone's longevity.