Christmas can be stressful for a lot of people.
Maybe your mother nags you, your sibling gets on your last nerve, the kids are hopped up on sugar and new toys … maybe all of the above?

But for this one day, can you step away from email, social media and Candy Crush to just be in the moment? If you’re with family or friends, give them the gift of your full and undivided attention?
A post I recently read headlined Smartphone etiquette for the holidays suggests in part:

Don’t let your holidays become overrun by relatives texting while you open gifts. Follow these rules to have a disconnected holiday season:
If you’re hosting the holidays, you make the rules. Let your guests know your expectations. For example, if you’d like your guests to turn off their phones during dinner, you need to make that clear when they arrive.
If you’d like to host a smartphone-free holiday gathering, you need to designate a place for phones, just as you need a place for guests to leave their coats. If you’d like guests to leave their phone at the door, consider setting up a power strip for charging so when people are ready to leave their phones are fully charged.
You don’t have to disconnect completely. Consider the advantages of mobile devices and what they can bring to the table. Smartphones are a wonderful way your guests can share pictures of their children and their latest vacations. There are also many group game apps that can be used to involve an entire room full of people. A phone or tablet can also entertain young children who may not be able to sit for as long as the party lasts.
Ask your guests to observe general smartphone etiquette: Turn off the sound when it might be a distraction to others (airplane mode is great for this), avoid texting or answering a call when in a face-to-face conversation, and if making or answering a call or text, go to a private area.

There’s plenty of time to post your Christmas tree photos to Facebook later. For now, just smile and let Aunt Edna tell you that same story she tells you every single year.

Related articles

• 10 Ways To Find Out If You’re Addicted To Your Smart Phone (callrail.com)
• Smartphone Owners and Their Morning Routine (business2community.com)
• Infographic: The Evolution of Smartphone Etiquette (intomobile.com)
• 14 Bad Tech Habits To Break In 2014 (forbes.com)