Phones and Addiction

My initial concept of addiction was drugs – opium, Marijuana etc. My parents would warn me of staying away from suspicious people.

As I grew older I realized that chemists / pharmacy guys were not giving cough syrup to unknown people without a prescription. These are typically over the counter medications so I was surprised about why this kind of behavior. Being curious, I asked one of them the reason. That’s when I was told that people become addicted to these syrups and need them because of that.

While these addictions cause harm to the body, one of the biggest addictions that we face today is because of our mobile phones. I have written multiple posts about how I am trying to de-clutter my life by removing all the Apps in my phone. The mobile phones and the Apps on them are so addictive that they drive you away from your dreams and aspirations.

However what I realized today, while reading a post, that this is a problem which is being faced by so many people globally. When something reaches a scale like this, its as bad an addiction for the overall generation.

I guess people will realize this situation and start taking steps, like me, to stop these perpetual distractions and live a more productive life.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Alerts….how I am trying to break free

Affirmative action, Distractions, Focus

On 7th Nov I had written a post on how alerts on various devices were disturbing me. I had not realized the amount of time they were taking away from me.

The alerts are short, but once you read the alerts and if there’s even something remotely interesting then my mind starts going in different direction….into the past…or into the future. The thoughts which your brain can generate are amazing. The worse thing is that because of the thoughts, feelings also change and I would sometimes also end up, feeling agitated. Once you you lose focus, getting it back takes an enormous amount of time.

So it was not the alert per se that was the issue, it were the actions afterwards which were problematic. Initially, after switching off the alerts , I actually had the feeling of a void and I was also anxious that I would miss out….the typical FOMO syndrome.

Soon however I got used to it. Now I just go and check my messages 3 times a day. If I need to get any update, I physically use the specific “app” to check, and then switch off the “app”.

By not letting the “apps” control my emotions, I am more alert to the things that I am working on.

Have I reached a stage of nirvana. No way. There are other distractions which keep occurring from time to time. Since I have such a strong tendency to get distracted I am always on the look out for ways to improve my concentration.

Let me know in the comments below if you have some ideas that you have used and got great results.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Make life simpler – switch off notifications

Distractions, Human Brain, Notification, Time

I get distracted extremely quickly. A song playing in the distance or a specific sound or smell….just about anything can get me distracted. Once I get distracted then my brain goes for a wild ride, mostly into the past.

Getting distracted was one of the primary reasons that I specifically took a room in a corner in the office, so that at least the chance of me seeing something and getting distracted was minimized.

Another thing which distracts me terribly are the notifications on the phone. The challenge is that each time you load a new “app” it starts sending you notifications. Now some of these are helpful especially the ones from say your bank, but most of the time I here one ding after another from a pizza chain, then from a food delivery app, 5gen a grocery app and so on.

I don’t know about you but I like to concentrate and finish the job that I am doing. In that state I finish most of my jobs in no time.

But each time I hear a “ding” my mind wanders and to get it back to the same level of concentration takes another 10-15 minutes. So today I made it a point to sit with my son so that I figure out a simple way to block the notifications while I keep the apps. He showed me how I can do it and within a matter of 3 minutes I had switched off all notifications. For the last 25 minutes I have not had a single “ding” disturb me.

With no one consistently disturbing me, I don’t have unnecessary pressure for time, because now I am not looking at my phone from and getting distracted.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!