With the advent of mobile phones, we’ve gotten used to reaching out and being available at all times. Although potentially more intrusive to our lives, we’ve managed to integrate it quite well. I feel this all changed with smartphones. With phones today, it is less about making or receiving calls, which is usually a one to one communication, but more a continual drain on our attention. Sadly, many of us aren’t good at managing our time and attention.
How about introducing one day in your week where you leave your phone alone? Alone at home, when you leave the house. You know, just like before the days of mobile phones. Alone at home, while at home. Just turn it off. OFF – not airplane mode. No calls, no wifi, no messages, no notifications, no email, no eBay, no Amazon, no games … no social media.
What would you do with all that regained time and attention? Maybe you’ll learn that you’re less distracted, more attentive to the social life that’s around you. Perhaps you’ll return to reading books, drawing, painting, writing. Or possibly you’ll spend time in your shop and build something, or finally fix this or that around the house. Maybe you’ll regain some spontaneity and take your family on a short trip.
Maybe nothing happens, because you’re already great at managing your attention and time. I, for one, will follow my advice — the next time I’ll walk the dog, I’ll invite my trusty iPod nano to join us instead of the phone.