3 ways to break up with your smartphone right now.
Simple strategies to slowly reclaim our time & attention
I know we’re coming off a 3 day weekend here in the USofA with copious amounts of screen-time… and to be fair, on its face, I believe screen-time by itself is not an indicator of there being a problem.
I’m not a licensed therapist so I don’t speak about addiction but let’s face the facts…We’re all drowning in screens for better and for worse.
We’ve all participated in the gif above; no shame.
So what do we do in the here and now?
Here are 3 simple strategies for breaking up with your smartphone to begin experimenting with before the weekend:
Intentional Pauses
Contrary to popular belief, I’m here to tell you that taking a breath (or 3) counts towards a screen-free break.
Close your eyes (not while operating heavy machinery of course) and center yourself.
Do a body scan.
Take a 5-15 minute walk without your phone, it just might turn out to be profound.
Get in the habit of catching yourself mid-scroll and practice putting the phone down and stepping away.
Managing the shitshow of notifications
I invoke Konmari here as a playful reminder to be open-minded and forgiving with this strategy.
Grab a sheet of paper & a writing tool then go to settings » notifications.
Draw a line in the middle of that paper.
On one side you list all app notifications — on the other side is that which you deem as important to leave on.
Notice that when you decidedly turn off unnecessary notifications over time you increase resilience and become less distractible.
Boundaries are needed with your phone too
The folks who’ve designed these devices made sure to employ the greatest behavioral scientists alive and the co-dependency we’ve all developed with our phones isn’t our fault.
Start to play with invisible boundaries:
Stop keeping the phone on your person, in your pocket, within arms reach all the time.
Plug it in / tether it to one spot in the house or office.
Experiment with phone-free zones like bathroom, dining room table and even try the bedroom…
Free live workshops
This week on October Health app
Thursday May 30 @ 3pm PST Parenting in the Digital Age
Friday May 31 @ 2pm PST Building resilience for single parents