CRyder Design

It is no surprise that our smartphones have a negative impact on our productivity. But do you know how much they also affect other aspects of our lives? The answer may surprise you. However, although it may seem like an easy problem to fix, it is a very challenging task.

We are always carrying our smartphones in our pockets. They are with us everywhere we go and are active in multiple areas of our day-to-day lives. Social media platforms have noticed this and developed different ways to monetize it. “As more people began to access social media services on their smartphones, the attention engineers at those companies invested more resources into making their mobile apps stickier… If you’re going to use social media, stay far away from the mobile versions of these services, as these pose a significantly bigger risk to your time and attention” (Digital Minimalism). When smartphones are easily accessible to us at all times, the apps on them are as well. Most people will turn to social media to cure a looming sense of boredom. Program developers have considered this and made mobile versions of apps much more dangerous and addictive for the average user. In Digital Minimalism author Cal Newport presents the idea of only using social media on a laptop or desktop and not on your smartphone to limit your activity stating, “Even the small extra barrier of needing to log in to a computer was enough to prevent them from making the effort —revealing, often to their admitted surprise, that services they claimed were indispensable were in reality providing nothing more than convenient hits of distraction.” When you leave your smartphone behind, you have access to more of your attention. Simply carrying your smartphone on you, results in constantly divided attention. Resisting the urge to check your smartphone at every slight boredom, is much more difficult than it seems. They have become so ingrained into our everyday lives, it is challenging to remove them. It feels as though there is a piece of you missing when it is not in your pocket. “Declaring freedom from your smartphone is probably the most serious step you can take toward embracing the attention resistance. This follows because smartphones are the preferred Trojan horse of the digital economy” (Digital Minimalism). When you make this separation, you will be getting so much more out of your daily activities and time with family and friends. You won’t feel as much of a desire to stay connected, you will have more attention to give to other activities, and you will not feel the common anxiety associated with having your smartphone.

Not only will you be more present in your everyday interactions, but you will notice a personal benefit to multiple aspects of your life. When you leave your phone behind you will see lower levels of stress, improved sleep habits, and higher levels of productivity. Leaving social media will lower your stress levels because there is a strong correlation between the two. “Social media equals anxiety to an extent. Lack of social media depletes that present and constant stress” (“How Quitting Social Media Can Change Your Life”). You will also notice, if you leave social media you will not have the nightly obligation to check in on what your friends are up to, how many likes your new post got, and how many people viewed your story. This nightly habit often leads to unnecessarily long check-ins, and before you know it you’ve been scrolling for hours. “When you quit social media, you free yourself of this extra priority — and buy yourself the powerful health boost of a good night’s rest. If you need a cool-down activity in the p.m., skip the screens and try something more relaxing and less time-consuming, like maybe reading a book or even meditation” (“How Quitting Social Media Can Change Your Life”). The daily obligation to check in whenever you feel bored will also disappear if you leave social media. You can spend more time finishing that task that you’ve been putting off for a few days, finish that paper that is nearly done, or send that project you’ve been working on to your boss. “When you don’t have to worry about your devices buzzing left and right, you could find your productivity levels shooting through the roof. Social media is a tool of distraction. It’s bad enough that you allow yourself to spend hours upon hours on these platforms with no benefits in return whatsoever. Imagine what you could have invested your time on instead of swiping and liking posts” (“How Quitting Social Media Can Change Your Life”). You will notice that you will get more out of your everyday life when you log out and hit delete. Hopefully, there will be no turning back when you find how much you were truly missing out on. After reading this post, I am hopeful that you will consider your relationship with your smartphone and social media habits. I will leave you with this quote. “The minute you press that delete button you’ve got your whole life ahead of you. I can’t stress this enough but, quitting social media is the first step to unlocking a more meaningful profound life” (“How Quitting Social Media Can Change Your Life”).