Are you a Mindless Scroller? Do you find yourself looking at your phone and social media posts just for the sake of it?
A few days ago I was sitting in a café next to a lady seemingly enjoying a nice hot drink. When I glanced at her again she looked bored and at that moment picked up her phone. I didn’t want to be caught ‘spying’ so I smiled at her. We started chatting. I mentioned that I was doing some research and asked her how she’d been using her phone. This led to a very interesting discussion. It turned out that this lovely lady had been ‘mindlessly scrolling’ and actually couldn’t really remember anything she’d seen. Note the word ‘seen’. She had not been reading anything. She’d drunk her coffee without enjoying it as she was ‘mindlessly scrolling’.
Recently I’ve been reading Cal Newport’s book ‘Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World’ and it really resonated with me. Cal is an associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University USA. He has developed a practical guide to helping us use our devices with intention. ‘When we use technology to support our goals, we can maximise its benefits while minimising it’s drain on our attention’ explains Cal.
Now don’t get me wrong. We all need to use technology but start using it wisely and only pick up our phone when we actually need it.
I run a session about setting boundaries with technology in my workshop and online course. Many people feel they’re ‘sucked in’ to their phone without actually realising how much time they spend on it. In my workshops we do an exercise to determine this then look at ways we can easily set boundaries.
Here are 5 ways to Gently Detox:
Social Butterfly
Switch your phone and tablet off at all social events and mealtimes
Busy Bee
Take a break from personal social media accounts when you’re at work
Counting Sheep
Keep any screens out of the bedroom to improve your sleep
Cold Turkey
Give up all personal social medial accounts for 14 Days (yes you can do it!)
Night Owl
Take a break from the internet every evening after 6 pm
My key message is this; train yourself to pick up your device only when you need it. This is ‘mastering the art of the meaningful’ scroll.
If you would like to find out more ways to ‘gently detox’ why not investigate my online course ‘Prevent Burnout Find Balance’ available via www.softersuccess.com