It can become like a ball and chain. The mobile phone that was supposed to free you and make your life easier has turned on you, making you a constant secretary, always having to answer to people, always at the beck and call of others. If you feel like you are a slave to your mobile instead of it being a tool to help you with increased efficiency, then it’s time to change a few things about the way you handle your phone usage.

The first thing to do is remind yourself who’s in control. You may think that you have to have your phone on in case certain people call, but most of the time that’s simply not true. There is nothing wrong with having a designated time when you are unavailable, even if it’s just for an hour or two a day. Something as simple as a walk in the park or a bubble bath can be so much more luxurious if you know for sure that you’re not going to be interrupted by a ringing phone. If you find it necessary, let the people close to you know that you’ll be turning your phone off for a short while everyday, or set up a voice mail message to let callers know that they’ll just have to call back later. This can send an important signal for people to stop calling you when it’s not strictly necessary — most of the things that people class as “urgent” can actually wait until you’re ready to deal with them, and the people who expect you to be on call 24/7 will just have to learn that.

“But I need to have my phone on in case there’s an emergency,” I hear you say. Honestly though, how often does that happen, that someone gets in a horrible accident during the one hour while you’re in the bath? The truth is, accidents can happen at any time, even when you’re somewhere where you can’t get a signal, but you can’t live your life always expecting the worst. Do you stay inside the house all the time to avoid the risk of getting hit by a car? Of course not. Although it is possible that something terrible may happen during the one hour you’ve designated for your quiet time, it is very unlikely, and on the off chance that something like that does happen, you’ll have your phone back on soon anyway. It’s certainly much more likely that the biggest side effect of turning your phone off is that you’ll start to be a lot less worried, not more.

As my dad is so fond of pointing out, there was a time not too long ago that people managed to live their entire lives without ever carrying a phone around with them. They went out and did things without being pestered every five minutes, and they waited until they got home or back to the office to call people. Personally I enjoy having my phone with me, but I also think there’s nothing wrong with making yourself unavailable some of the time if you prefer — when you’re on your own time, you have the right to decide what level of privacy you want when you’re going about your daily routine, and it’s not unreasonable to ask others to respect your decision when you want to switch off your phone.