By now, we all know how addictive smart phones are. It seems to be an epidemic that has captured all ages, all walks of life. At the proverbial water cooler and on the TV, people are talking about it. They’re wondering how it will affect the youth or society in general. Their concerns are certainly justified.
Phones are changing everything about us; how we communicate, how we get information and even how we grow and develop. The psychological and physical impacts of, in some cases, one’s closest relationship being with a portable, glowing oracle may not be identifiable for quite some time. How will this impact our civilization?
Humans have evolved in communities; until recently, in small, manageable communities. When the group became too large, often the tendency was to split. Phones move against this natural fragmenting; phones demand that we process information about everyone and everything all at once. We cannot possibly filter through such an onslaught of content. We’ve never developed tools to help us navigate this particular problem.
We have bounced from local to global in the blink of an eye. It makes sense that this sudden adjustment is uncertain and difficult. We are having to adapt on the fly.
Perhaps I had reached a personal limit of some kind, but I felt the need to unplug for a while. This meant from any social media and most news outlets as well. I’ve fallen behind on many of my normal reads, even those that aren’t necessarily political or similarly agitating. I still use my phone to stream music, play games, query with ChatGPT or to chat and text, but I’ve severed my ties with the excessive content that is always competing for my attention.
I try to use my phone to assist with whatever I’m doing and not let my phone be what I am doing.
This unplugging has brought a heightened sense of calm. To be perfectly honest, I’d admit that this calm has become an addiction. I like it too much. I might be more addicted to the calm than I was to the phone. I had only meant to take a quick break around the new year but still find myself delaying a comeback in April.
I know that I’ll need to create a balance, because I can’t ignore everything forever. Even so, I have realized how important consistent unplugging should be for us all.
Making time to spend far, far away from the overwhelming insanity the world is imposing on us should be a priority. I think it might be good for our wellbeing.
It feels good to live in the moment, allowing concerns for anything beyond immediate surroundings to evaporate. Focusing on a task feels natural. It is behavior that is imprinted within each of us and revisiting it feels like home.
Taking time to spend in the moment, even if it’s just sitting and appreciating some quiet, can help in riding the chaos rather than drowning in it. Taking the time to watch the sunset has become a rebellious act; it can remind us that giving our attention to ourselves is invigorating and empowering.
Unplugging periodically feels like a healthy thing to do. As I work toward improving my overall metabolic health, I can’t help but factor this in.
Whether it is daily, weekly, monthly, or even just whenever you think about it, consider unplugging from the ever flowing info-stream and plugging some you-time into your schedule. You might need to add it into your calendar to ensure you set the time aside. It’s probably worth it. If you’re lucky, it’ll become addicting.
I try to do this regularly as well. Starting on an evening taking the whole day off and then not turning back on until the following morning. Even just one whole day feels delicious. The only problem is I need to announce it to everyone, friends and family that otherwise expect to always reach me. Oh how times have changed.