Turn Off Your Phone
We all need a break and so do our smartphones.
Does your phone go everywhere you do? How often do you turn it off?
What do you do when your phone 'pings'? Do you dive to look at what is going on for fear that you might miss something important? Do you ignore it but have an annoying little little thought niggling away that you should really look at it? What if it is something important? It could be, you know!!!
This takes up mental energy, even if we do ignore it, it still interferes with our attention. Our attention is a precious commodity, it really is! If energy flows where attention goes, do we really want to give our valuable energy to every ping and blip from our phone? It also increases anxiety and can create a sense of overwhelm in an already busy life.
Social media feeds are also a potential attention-grabbing, energy-sapping interference. How many times do you just check something on a social media account to suddenly find thirty minutes have disappeared or perhaps you have zoned out of a conversation and missed something important? Sometimes the zoning out might be just the thing we need to do to chill out but that is a mindful choice! The other thing with getting lost in the social media zone is that that old gremlin of comparison can sneakily start whispering in the background... everyone is doing, looking, feeling better or more successful than you... you are a failure. This is not great for our self image and low self image impacts on our motivation, energy and even body function!
So perhaps we need to be smart and turn our smart phones off every now and then. (As a side note apparently switching off our phones from time to time is better for the battery life of the phone and the planet too! Bonus!)
Here are a few tips to help manage the phone overwhelm:
- turn off notifications- that means you will look at notifications when you want instead of when your phone wants you to, turning your volume down as well can help reduce anxiety from loud noise of the phone ringing
- find settings on your phone to manage your digital balance- you can set time limits for specific applications as well as general use, you can give bedtime settings too on some phones.
- get an old fashioned alarm clock so you don't need to use your phone to wake you up- that way you won't get bombarded with scrolling through notifications first thing in the morning, and it removes the temptation to check your phone before you go to sleep which will help you sleep better
- let people in your life know that you won't be checking your messages continuously- that way they won't worry when you suddenly can't be reached immediately or don't respond quickly... that'll save causing more anxiety around you
- leave your phone behind sometimes on purpose- your phone won't get lonely if you go to the toilet, go for walk, sit in a meeting, eat a meal, watch a movie or have a date without it... it really doesn't care and those people who care for you won't mind if you put your health and wellbeing first and don't respond immediately
If any of the above suggestions make you feel really uncomfortable then it might be worth taking some time out to investigate your relationship with your phone to see if it really is a healthy one. For some of us there may be legitimate reasons but for most of us it could be a habit we've fallen in to and one that we might need to change for our own peace of mind.
This Joyful January project is part of the Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit: Restore your health, boost your wellbeing and embark on a happy healthy lifestyle for 2021 That is exactly what the Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit is all about. YOU having the knowledge, skills, support and most importantly the WHY to make your health, energy and vitality a priority for 2021 and beyond. This was held live on 22nd - 24th Jan with 17+ heart centred wellness experts and a 3 hour vision board online workshop- recordings are available NOW Find out all the details here: please follow this link: https://www.spectrumeducation.com/happy-healthy-teachers-matter-online-summit-home/ |
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