Just Say No To Your Phone
Go on, I double dare you
A while back I was painting a wall and decided to do some foolish multitasking, which actually turned out to be quite fortuitous. I was attempting to wash my paintbrush while searching for a podcast and dropped the damn phone in a bucket of water. There was only a cm of water in the bucket and I fished it out, took it apart and laid it on a heater to dry out for a few days.
It did resurrect itself in that time, but I was given the amazing gift of three days off my phone. I had never been so happy!
Here are the reasons why I think I was so happy minus the mobile. Later on we will look at how to say no to your phone.
#1 It Is One Big Letdown For Cavebrain
Cavebrain has two jobs and one of them is to make sure the tribe accepts you. So many of us have inadvertently let Mark Zuckerberg into our Cavebrains. We see our best friends in person maybe once a week, maybe several times, but we log into Facebook or Instagram or whatever multiple times a day. Message to Cavebrain: this digital tribe is the tribe to base your sense of acceptability on.
#2 It Lowers Your Boredom Threshhold
The video at the top of the page explains this better than I can.
#3 Social Media Is Addictive
You already know this probably, but here is an article explaining the psychology of this area
https://medium.com/startup-grind/nir-eyal-why-you-are-addicted-to-facebook-slack-pinterest-468a86eb562
#4 It blurs the lines between work and leisure
How great! I can check my email on the go!
Really!?!I don’t think I need to expand on this point any more.
#5 It Disconnects You From Your Core Self
My clients have a whole range of spiritual and religious beliefs and I am quite neutral about these, always working with people’s belief systems. Myself, I am not sure what is beyond our material world, but I do believe in A Core Self. The part of us that works for our highest purpose. That helps us find balance. That gives us courage to go against the tide of all your friendsIf you let yourself get caught in the traps that #1 - #4 set for you, you will be so busy dancing to the pied pipers of Facebook, Instagram and your email account that you de-prioritise the needs of your Core Self.
Take Responsibility and Take Back Control
This article about the four culprits for our addiction to our phones is very enlightening
In the end, though, the more power you want to end your phone addiction, the more responsibility you need to take. AKA Power.
Imagine if the government passed a law and told you they had control of when you look at your phone and what you look at.
You would be outraged! You would not give your power away to the govt like that...so why does Instagram get a free pass???
How To Just Say No To Your Phone
I think the first question to ask yourself is: What uses of my phone are valid?
For example: being available before a business meeting, organising real connections on Meetup, The Shapeshifting Slack group and so on.
Next, the key is to experiment. Try a day with a restriction of your choice. I know for me that experiment would be removing all notifications and then setting myself one or maybe two specific times to check apps like Meetup, Facebook - all have some valid benefit eg Facebook is a good place to contact possible interviewees for my podcast.