"Where Ever You Are, Be All There" - Jim Elliot

Notice that lady, the one without the phone?

​See her face, you can really see that she is in the moment, really enjoying the experience.


Now notice everyone else? All on their phones trying to get the perfect picture, absorbed in trying to get the perfect moment before it passes.

Just contemplate what you see for a moment.

According to Deloites Mobile Consumer Survey 2017, 88% of Australians own smartphones and you might be surprised to learn that its not all young ones influencing this. The older generation or “Silver Surfers” as referred to in the Survey are significantly growing in their usage.
 
How many times do you pick up your phone per day? Research suggests we are looking at our phones on average 35 time per day. Think about that for a minute.

The 2017 Sensis Social Media Report  shared that those aged between 18 to 29 are most likely to access social media first thing in the morning, last thing at night, at work and even on the toilet.

Most people own up to 3 devices that connect to the internet. And we are on one of them pretty much all of the time.

We can’t bare being separated from our phones, we are addicted and there is even a term for it.

Nomophobia.

The Oxford Dictionary meaning of Nomophobia is - anxiety caused by being without one's mobile phone. We feel disconnected without them.

These devices sap our energy, every time we get a notification or check an email or scroll through social media, we have become obsessed. This affects our quality of sleep, our relationships, our time management, anxiety levels and is a common cause of neck and back pain.

More and more we are noticing people become majorly distracted. According to psychotherapist Tom Kersting, “the average person spends nine hours per day, seven days per week staring into highly stimulating devices, their brains get messed up".

I raise my hand as one of these people, I down loaded the App RealizD to test my usage and I was shocked to learn just how many times per day I picked up my phone and how much time I was spending on it. – I'm working on this.

So how can we manage this?

• Take a social media break. Try making an effort to refrain from the constant checking - turn it off.
• Every time you pick up your phone, take the opportunity for a mindful moment, in that moment take a breath and mindfully ask the question, “do I really need to check my phone?”
• Keep devices out of eyesight to resist the temptation
• Let your friends and family know you are taking a social media detox and invite them to do the same
• Invest in an alarm clock and keep your devices outside of the bedroom.
• Spend quality time with your family and friends, don't be afraid of conversation.
• Enjoy the moment for what it really is, enjoy its perfectness rather than trying to look for the perfect.
• Leave your phone in the car and really watch the kids play sport, enjoy their joy.

 
Just try one of these tips, choose your time to do it and when you do, notice how you feel, what do you notice about the quality of experience and your quality of time. Then try another, and another.

Give it a chance. It might not be easy but give it a go. This is something I am working on too.

Share with me what you try, let me know how you find the exercise.

---