Fitness guru Joe Wicks opens up about addiction to phone
Fitness coach Joe Wicks has opened up about coming to terms with his phone addiction and struggling to ‘switch off’ away from his phone.
In a post shared to his 4.3M Instagram followers, the father-of-two, with a third on the way, wrote the caption, “I’m addicted to my phone. I recently took 5 days off social media and stayed off my phone as much as possible to really connect with the kids”.
“It wasn’t easy unplugging but it really opened my eyes to just how much I struggle with it on a daily basis. Here are my thoughts. Let me know if you can relate to any of it yourself”.
“I'd also love to hear if you have any advice to help me make some positive changes and become more present. Thank you”.
The post consisted of a carousel of 10 photos with blank backgrounds and writing about Joe’s thoughts on social media, working on his phone and how the device affected his emotions, among many other feelings he had while doing this ‘unplugging’ experiment.
One snap read, “I am unable to stay focused on a single task without getting distracted by my phone. This can be playing with the kids, watching a cartoon on the sofa with them, cooking a recipe, exercising, meditating, having a work zoom call”.
“My brain is constantly seeking some other form of distraction and stimulation and it’s 100% of the time coming from me picking up my phone”.
“The phone is the source of distraction for my brain but also the source of almost every negative emotion I feel in a day”.
He continued, “I’m very lucky I get to be a dad and husband because I work from home and my work can also be remote but I’m never fully present for long periods… I want to work on this and learn to enjoy moments more and not rush everything just to get back on my phone”.
Many friends and fans of Wicks left messages for the 36-year-old in the comment section to share how much they agree with his post. Author and baker Juliet Sear wrote, “Oh this is so so true!! 100% I’m glad we didn’t have social media when we were small”.
Former cricket star Kevin Pietersen shared his experience with getting time away from his phone. He wrote, “I turn my phone off at 7pm every single evening. It’s the best I’ve ever done. And on weekends, I sometimes turn it off around 4/5pm. If it’s important, they have other ways to contact me. Try it mate”.
Fitness coach Kenta Seki added, “Thank you for sharing this! Phone addiction is REAL and it’s important to shed light on how it can affect our relationships & mental health”.
Joe is father to three year-old Indie and two-year-old Marley. In March, he and his wife Rosie announced that they are expecting their third child. They are due in September.
