{"id":2467,"date":"2018-03-01T20:43:09","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T04:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jaeminyi.com\/?p=2467"},"modified":"2018-03-01T21:01:27","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T05:01:27","slug":"breaking-phone-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jaeminyi.com\/breaking-phone-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking the Phone Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
A few months ago, I spent two weeks in the mountains of Spain on a spiritual retreat.<\/p>\n
It was wonderful. <\/p>\n
I spent most of my days completely content with whatever was happening – whether that was watching an ant crawl over my hand, eating in silence, or just simply breathing. Being. Existing.<\/p>\n
Two weeks of utter peace and contentment<\/p>\n
Which all got ripped away from me in just twenty minutes.<\/p>\n
As soon as I entered the airport and turned on my phone, it was shocking how quickly my brain fell back into it\u2019s old patterns.<\/p>\n
Suddenly this present moment wasn\u2019t good enough on its own. I needed to constantly fill it with new content: tweets, articles, podcasts, and on and on. <\/p>\n
I felt like an addict. Who just couldn\u2019t get his fix.<\/p>\n
And it wasn\u2019t until those 2 weeks of soberness that I realized how deep my problem was. How deep it was for ALL of us. But none of us ever notice because living like this was just the norm. The water we swam in.<\/p>\n
Since then, I\u2019ve been on a mission to keep my head above water. To greatly reduce my phone use, increase my sense of peace and well-being, and reclaim my sanity.<\/p>\n
Here are a few things that helped.<\/p>\n
The first time I heard about this, I scoffed. But once I made the change to black & white<\/a>, I can\u2019t go back.<\/p>\n My screen is now a constant reminder to spend as little time with my phone as possible. And that my attention should be drawn to where there actually IS color (hint: the world around me).<\/p>\n I\u2019m so used to the black & white display now that color mode (which you can turn on\/off instantly) feels overly aggressive to me – like every app is screaming for my attention. No thank you.<\/p>\n This has been a game changer for me.<\/p>\n My biggest problem with phone\/internet use is that I\u2019d get sucked into a never-ending flurry of activity and emails and articles, and before I knew it, 3 hours would pass and I’d feel like a zombie.<\/p>\n To counter that, every time I switch tasks (or apps or end a Pomodoro session<\/a>), I close my eyes and take 1-3 deep, unhurried breaths.<\/strong> <\/p>\n The key is to really enjoy it. Luxuriate in it. Treat each breath like it\u2019s a fucking spa day. Not only does it feel great, but it reels you out of the vortex of your mind and back into reality.<\/p>\n Doing that every 30 minutes is a must for me, if not more. I try to take those breaths every time I switch activities.<\/p>\n It helps me break out of the endless loop of mindlessly clicking from one thing to the next. Those 3 breaths allow me to come to my senses.<\/p>\n From there, I can intentionally – not compulsively – decide what to do next.<\/p>\n There\u2019s one iPhone app I wholeheartedly recommend: Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n You can track your phone usage throughout the day (you might be shocked at your numbers), set daily time limits, and even take courses on reducing phone use.<\/p>\n Honestly, I don\u2019t really use any of those features except for one, Tiny Reminders, which was worth upgrading to premium for ($3.99). I set mine to ping me for every 15 minutes of screen time. It helps catch me from going down the sinkhole of mindless browsing. And is another opportunity to practice my \u201c3 deep breaths\u201d whenever it pops up.<\/p>\n (I\u2019ve heard QualityTime<\/a> is a good Android alternative. And people also rave about Freedom<\/a> – which allows you to block apps\/websites for a set amount of time – but I never got into it.)<\/p>\n A huge part of what drives our phone addiction is that we\u2019re deathly afraid of the in-between moments. The moments of inactivity. Of boredom.<\/p>\n Learn to re-frame that.<\/p>\n Boredom isn\u2019t a waste of time. As countless famous writers and inventors (and this WIRED article<\/a>) have noted, boredom directly leads to creativity.<\/p>\n The practice of mindfulness and meditation will also re-wire your brain so that \u201cempty\u201d moments become surprisingly full. Of peace, calm, and rejuvenation.<\/p>\n Re-frame the negative space into positive. And you\u2019ll start to crave it.<\/p>\nTake 1-3 deep breaths every time you switch tasks<\/h2>\n
Get an App Assist<\/h2>\n
Boredom is Beautiful<\/h2>\n
Single-tasking<\/h2>\n