Most humans living in first-world countries are addicts in 2020. Though possibly to other things as well, we all mainly share one dependency in common: our cell phones. There have been countless studies showing just how addictive our mini-computers really are; from the anxiety they cause when we can't check them to phantom vibrations in our pockets when we imagine a notification came in, the chemical reaction cell phones cause in our brains is similar to the effect that drugs can have. Our happiness can rise or plummet with a glance at the screen, something that is completely unique to generations of late, and the mental health concerns regarding cell phone use are dangerously valid.
While listening to Dr. Peter Attia's latest podcast today that featured guest Jason Fried (CEO of Basecamp, a large tech project management company), I heard a quip that reminded me exactly of the type of problems that we're facing in today's society. Fried stated "Push notifications should actually be called pull notifications, since they pull you away from whatever you were doing before." If you're reading this, I'm sure you can recall hundreds of times where you got a text or notification, only to end up sucked into your phone for the next x amount of minutes. These things are designed to take our focus away from whatever it is that we're doing, and we end up giving precedence to these interruptions countless times throughout the day.
I don't have the right answer to deal with this by any means, but I've taken steps to try and become less reactive with my phone in the past few months. Almost all push notifications from apps have been turned off, and I have apps in place to automatically send numbers I don't have in my contacts to voicemail. My phone screen is organized alphabetically with folders instead of the singular apps, and I put apps I know I would click without thinking on the second page of the folders, so I would never see them on my screen by themselves. However small these changes may be, I do feel as though they've given me some of my time back, which is the best return I could ever wish for from this invetment.
These companies are working tirelessly to develop ways to keep their consumers hooked. Just as the food industry put chemicals in food to get people addicted to sugar, oils, and carbs, many app developers are no different. It takes a conscious fight to combat these traps, but one that's necessary if you want to guard your time. If you've got a few extra minutes, check out this website, it gave me all of the ideas that I implemented and now use on my phone:
How we spend our time is how we spend our lives. Protect it any way you can.
"A Single Seed" is my attempt to get out one idea every day that I've learned or accumulated over the years, with the hope that it may stick in someone else's memory bank as well. The idea may be related to fitness, business, life, or philosophy, but I think you'll find that many can change domains if you wish them to. With each seed planted, a new life awaits.
Image credit:https://www.pikrepo.com/fgeea/gold-iphone-6s-and-gold-iphone