Look, I love my phone as much as you do.
Alarm clock, Angry Birds, Email, Test Messages, GPS, and oh yeah, telephone.
However, it’s just become too much of an intrusion.
I often feel like I am in an old cowboy movie, and drawing my gun from the holster for a quick check to see who has contacted me in the last sixty seconds.
Here’s the problem.
Phones are our connection to the outside world and the icon on the screen we are looking for is really a representation of “someone wants me” which is like crack for our self-esteem. So every time we are checking our phone, what we really are doing is addicting ourselves to a feeling of maybe someone wants me, an then when there is a message, we get that rewarding feeling of “yes, someone wants me.” So of course, we are constantly looking at the phone.
However, look what it is doing to us as a society.
We can’t focus on a conversation with the person sitting across from us. We can’t take some time to read a book or watch a movie. We can’t relax by the pool and let our thoughts go. Simply, we can’t get into a relaxed state anymore because we are always looking for next next hit from our phone.
Friends, there is only one solution. You have to put the phone away. When you get home from work, turn it off, or turn off data service if you need to accept calls. There’s an app for that. When you go out for dinner, leave the phone in the car. When you put your kids to bed, leave the phone in your bedroom and let the calls go to voicemail.
Think of this as an intervention. You are addicted, and you had no idea, and the first thing to do is admit that you have a problem. From there, you can work on the issues that you have created for yourself. But the first step, is to put down the phone.