Mobile phones these days can be very distracting and can take a lot of our time. It is so easy to see a notification and FaceBook and go and check it out, then find your self scrolling through and seeing what is in your news feed. Messages come via messenger or other social media applications and we check them, next we can be involved in a chat that can take up your time. Emails come in, so again we can get caught to open the emails and check them.
All this takes time, our precious time, it is very distracting and takes our focus away from the task at hand. I am not suggesting that these things are bad and we should not engage in them, but I think it is more about taking back the control over your time.
We can do this in a few ways, we can if disciplined enough, we could only check our phones during certain time periods, say three times a day, morning, mid day and evening. Those of us who are employed and work can already do this. I am more talking about those days we are not at work or those of us who are at home for various reason, self employed at home, stay at home mums or even this could be helpful for those who work at a job yet find the times they have off and at home there time is dictated by the phone and what other people are doing.
Mobile phones were invented as a convenience for ourselves yet we have allowed them to become a distraction and our time controlled by others. Others control our time by posting on social media, by sending messages, by sending emails and texts and phone calls.
Personally for me this took at lot of my time, I was caught up chatting, found myself wasting time scrolling through Facebook, checking emails. Time I could not spend doing more important things, things that needed my attention. At the end of the day I did not feel good within myself because I had not achieved much with my time. I felt down and unsatisfied. Projects weren’t getting the time and focus I needed to give them. Things took a long time to be done and completed.
I needed a solution. First I turned my phone to silent in hope this would not distract me and call my attention away from what I was doing or wanting to do. For me this did not help, because now I was constantly picking up the phone and looking to see if there were any notifications, any messages. Ironically this took up more time and was not solving my problem. Next I decided to ignore it leave it on silent, and just check it a few times a day, left the phone on silent and out of reach, still doing this I could not seem to not check it periodically and found it a great way to procrastinate.
My real freedom came when I choose to put my phone in flight mode whenever I did not want to be disturbed. Only thing is this stopped all communication, phone calls and texts did not come through along with all internet notifications. I did not find this to be the solution for me either as I did need to have this available. Then I found that I could turn off my wifi and my data when I was busy, this still allowed text and calls to come in, but stopped all the internet notifications coming on my phone. It turned my phone back into a phone and not a mini computer.
Now most days I leave it off, I get to choose when I have the time to check these notifications, I get to control my time, I get to feel free and have found my mind is clear, I am more focused, I am able to concentrate on my task at hand and at the end of the day I feel satisfaction for all that I managed to get done during the day, which is a lot more now than it has been in the past. I don’t know why turning off the data and wifi gives me that free feeling over just turning the phone to silent. I has given me the freedom I need to be me and to do the things that I need or want to do. I has freed my mind and time. It has empowered me and given back the control to me.
I use a laptop a lot during the day, yet I find this does not distract me, I do not feel drawn to social media or emails. I know they are there and I can open them and check when I wish. Ironically I only do this a couple times a day, funny how I use the computer on the phone differently.
Maybe this will help you too, if you find yourself like me, easily distracted by the phone and all the notifications that come through. Some of you I am sure are more disciplined than me and have found ways that work for you, I applaud you for that.
Robyn Lemsing
13th October 2021