“YOUR MIND IS THE WORKSHOP FOR FEELINGS”
With the advent of technology, the world has become more connected, efficient, and productive. Every one of us can use our devices to enhance our lives offline. If you are stressed, you can use a meditation app to recenter yourself. Interestingly, you can utilize the timer on your smartphone to remind yourself to take digital breaks. The strategies discussed in this chapter will help teach you how to take the time you need to steady yourself from the mad spin of life.
TOOLS YOU CAN USE
“THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE FAIL IS BROKEN FOCUS.”
- Adjust your social media apps.
Abstain from social media apps on your phone for 30 days. You may feel a sense of emptiness and craving, as if you are experiencing withdrawal from a drug. Using social media releases the “happy chemical” dopamine in the reward center of your brain. If you have become accustomed to receiving an unnatural amount of dopamine, withdrawing from social media can take a real physical and psychological toll. However, changing your social media habits can have life-altering effects in just a short period of time. Take note of the extra time you now have. How are you spending this free time? More importantly, take note of emotional shifts resulting from escaping from social media.
I encourage you to journal your thoughts during the month. Take note of the impact eliminating social media has on you. You will unleash new thoughts and ideas by spending your time in a new way. By the time the experiment is over you will feel a greater sense of control over your prior addiction, and limiting yourself to more reasonable and beneficial use will feel infinitely easier.
- Detox with a buddy.
Achieving a new goal can be daunting, but having a partner to encourage you and hold you accountable along the way can make a world of difference. Tell your loved ones why you are enthusiastic about this plan for change and ask if anyone is interested in taking the journey with you. When you find a partner, discuss your strategy ahead of time, check in with each other regularly, and try to provide as much support and positivity as possible.
- Identify what apps you’re using most.
Try downloading an app such as Moment. It will help you break down the amount of time you spend on these social media platforms. If you’re an iPhone user, you’re likely already familiar with your device’s built-in Screen Time feature. If you are an Android user, download Boomerang. Check out your “Most Used” apps list and see how much time you’re devoting to specific social media apps. Assess whether the amount of time you spend on each app aligns with the type of lifestyle you want to lead. Adjust accordingly and with purpose.
- Talk to your friends and family.
Believe it or not, the people closest to us tend to know us better than we think we know ourselves. Put this to the test! Ask loved ones what they have observed about your relationship with your phone. This may teach you about your unconscious habits, like checking the phone mid-conversation or texting at the dinner table.
- Put a rubber band around your phone.
This is a simple trick that helps to eliminate the habit of picking up the phone mindlessly. There will be a physical obstacle to snap you out of autopilot for a moment when reaching for the phone. This encourages a state of mindfulness about your phone usage, gently prodding you to reflect in the moment on whether you really need to use the phone, or whether it’s simply the result of a mindless habit.
- Think of your attention as a valuable resource.
Your attention is valuable, so you need to become an expert at determining what is worth your time and focus. You also need to cultivate an awareness of time-wasters that steal your focus. Most people are cautious about how they spend their money, but time is an even greater – and irreplaceable – commodity. Your time is precious, and should be treated as such.
- Give your phone a bedtime.
Set a time each day (9 pm, for example) after which you will move your phone to a charging station and consider it out of commission until the next day. Try moving the charging station to a location out of sight and out of reach (i.e. away from your bedside table), so you won’t be tempted to renege on your commitment. The less access you have to your phone, the less likely you will be tempted to explore the internet and social media into the wee hours of the night and morning.
- Get a real alarm clock.
Quit using your phone as an alarm clock. Our day should begin with our focus placed on intention. This means we should focus on what we want to accomplish today. While the end of the day should be about reflection (How did today go? How can tomorrow be better?), the first part of the morning is an opportunity to set our intentions for the day. When we pick up our phones the second we wake up, we are more likely to skip that opportunity for focus, praise, and prayer and go straight to scrolling.
- Set time limits on your apps.
Consider setting time limits for all social media platforms to increase productivity.
- Go to God in Prayer
Smartphones and tablets are a gift that can be used for His glory and our good, but such usage requires that we think carefully, constantly, and biblically about how and why we use them. This is hard work, but it will pay off. In no time, you will begin to see spiritual growth, production in good works, and cautiously guarded children. With quiet meditation in prayer, ask God to help you find the right balance.
When we realize that logging off makes us calmer, happier, and more, it becomes easy to abandon the mindless addiction and pursue more purposeful habits. This understanding can not only help with the detoxification process, but it can also help us realize our full potential and grow in confidence.
