“Be aware when distractions come your way. You’ll know it’s a distraction when you stop doing what you’re supposed to be doing and find yourself pondering things that have no value.” – Beverly R. Imes
Electronic devices and social media aren’t going anywhere. If anything they are becoming more and more a dominating force in our lives. And this kind of scares me. While I love the convenience of technology (example: I got the sweetest picture of my 5 year old during her first day of school yesterday from her teacher while at recess), part of me yearns for the days when you left home in the morning and no one could reach you by phone until you got home in the evening. It was a much slower time and I miss it (at times). Everything is so fast paced now, if you blink you’re behind. And it’s wearing us down. Kids are stressed, parents are stressed…everyone is stressed.
What can we do? We certainly can’t be without our phones…going back isn’t an option once we’ve swallowed the technology pill. My first suggestion is to create “Office Hours” for your social media accounts. What this means is ONLY checking your social media accounts during certain times of the day. What I’ve done is put all of my social media apps, as well as my email, in one little app bubble (no idea what they’re called, but I’m SURE they have a name) and labeled it ’12-2 ONLY’. The idea is that I will only open the bubble and look at any of the apps contained in there between 12-2pm. This is when I have decided that I have the time to look at/respond to these things. For you, it may be a different time, or even multiple times a day. (I have really let this habit slide over the summer, so this is designed to get me back in gear, too).
Second suggestion is to turn off all (non-pertinent) notifications. I keep my text notifications on and the app my daughter’s kindergarten teacher uses, but everything else I don’t see/hear until I check it. I have a friend that, in addition to turning off notifications, turns her screen to grayscale so that the excitability of the display is diminished, and she’s less likely to get distracted. (I haven’t tried this yet, but it seems like it would work). A recent study {loooong article} shows that even having the phone in the same room as you, EVEN IF IT’S OFF, is a distraction.
So figure out what time works for you to do what you need to within the social media and email platforms and make your bubble. (Please don’t make it first thing when you wake up in the morning…this might be worse for your health than watching the news when you first wake up. Give yourself a little time before you start the busyness of your day). Also, you might be surprised at how many times, out of habit, you go to open that (damn) bubble it when it’s not time. I know I was. My advice: STOP, DROP and DON’T SCROLL.
Light and Love,
♥k