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How To Get Your Phone Out Of Your Hands
24 Plays3 months ago
We all know it's a problem, we've all admitted it to ourselves or others, but we don't usually do anything about it....
And that is: being on our phones too often! So, in today's episode, Ayla and Beth go over a few ways you can get your phones out of your hands more often in your daily life. This will increase your attention span, mood, productivity, relationships, and overall physical and mental health!
If you like hearing us chat about friendship, entrepreneurship, and life in general, be sure to subscribe and leave a 5 star rating!
We'll see you next week!
-Beth and Ayla
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Transcript
The Impact of Phone Usage on Life
00:00:01
Speaker
Over the course of the last few weeks on the podcast, the subject of our phone usage kept making an appearance. We have talked about how our phones can be a distraction from our work, a thief of productivity, and we've also talked about how constant social media use and doom scrolling is still breeding unhealthy comparison mindsets, causing insecurities and stirring worry into our everyday lives.
Struggling with Phone Habits
00:00:23
Speaker
Now I'm not going to lie, this is an area we are both still working on and probably will continue to work on for years, but we each have made some changes I think in our daily lives regarding phone use. And the bottom line is we really are all on our phones just too much. And we wanted to motivate you and give you some practical steps today about how to start new habits that don't revolve around your phone.
Practical Steps for Change
00:00:46
Speaker
We think if you can implement at least two things on today's list in your upcoming week, you'll notice drastic shifts in your mindset, your productivity, and your mood. So what are the tips? Let's go. Welcome to the Art of Intention podcast with Beth and Ayla. Two best friends turn creative entrepreneurs. This is a place for us to discuss everything, business, friendships, and faith, and occasionally more. We're so excited for today's episode. We think you're going to love it. Stay tuned.
Habits for Reducing Screen Time
00:01:18
Speaker
Okay guys, we're jumping right in. These are a few habits that you can start implementing daily to reduce time spent on your phone. Whatever you spend your time doing on your phone, whether it's scrolling, social media, games, whatever, it all falls under this list. We're basically just encouraging you to get your phone out of your hands and your eyes onto something else. Okay, I'm gonna jump right in with tip number one. And like Beth said, a truthfully, um we made these tips and we definitely still have to apply them. So we know we are gonna be very upfront real and say that this is stuff we're working on. But ah I can at least say I've tried a variety of these and I definitely notice a difference. Whether I do it perfectly or not throughout every week, I'd notice a difference when I do implement it. And the first one is no scrolling before bed.
00:02:05
Speaker
o There I said it. um and This is one of the hardest areas for me because for years, for years, my entire college years and some of high school, I watched YouTube before bed. That was how I fell asleep. I've said it before, if you're just like desperate for sleep and it's not coming, I don't really care what you do. But for ways to get your phone out of your hands, no scrolling before bed because this is a huge area where I think a lot of people bank a lot of their screen time. Yeah. I personally, I'm a big reader and I've been getting back into reading this year.
Alternatives to Nighttime Phone Use
00:02:38
Speaker
Um, that's just what I like to do before bed. And, uh, I know, I know that not everyone likes to read. It's okay. Um, so reading before bed may not be as much of an option for you, but I challenge you to pick up something else to do in the 10 minutes that you spend in wake before you spend in wake.
00:03:00
Speaker
Something else to do in the 10 minutes you spent awake in bed before you fall asleep. um Also, this is a hot take, but I don't really believe people when they say that they don't like to read because they scroll and a lot of that time is spent reading. True. I might sound like a boomer when I say that, but like how if you scroll 40 minutes on Instagram, how many words are you reading versus a few pages on a book, you can do it. But some options of what you can do instead do include a crossword slash word search. just something to help you unwind, and paper ones, not games on
Non-Screen Relaxation Techniques
00:03:33
Speaker
your phone. Like, they're not very expensive in Walmart.
00:03:37
Speaker
Um, drawing yourself a bath without a show or scrolling. I love YouTuber show in the bath, but just try a few times without, uh, just try to sit in the silence. Music is acceptable, like but just your eyes off of a screen. Um, a coloring book. I I'm a fan of all the, there's grown up coloring books or kids ones. I don't care. yeah Just, um, or just in general, you could just draw it too. Yeah. Just normal sketching, whatever you like to do. Um, and like I say, or. And if you must, listening to a podcast.
00:04:10
Speaker
or show if you just have to have some kind of noise going on, but listening and keeping your eyes on something that's not a screen. And you may be thinking, but Ayla, scrolling helps my mind quiet down. um A crossword or word search isn't enough to unwind my mind. And I say this because it's been me. But it's a sign more than ever than you need that you need to get your phones out of your hands before bed. um You've likely trained your brain to be absorbing dopamine dumping content on Instagram or TikTok before you go to sleep. And it may be a little painful to just to deprive yourself of that high stimulation, high dopamine content before you go to bed. But trust me, this is probably the main area where you should be putting your phone away. um And it's going to be weird at first. Like when I first started reading before bed, I remember like the itch to just like be on my phone instead and being like, this isn't enough. This isn't enough because I do have a very active mind. But trust me, that's probably just a big sign that your phone needs to be away if you can't spend a few minutes, especially when you're supposed to be relaxing.
00:05:09
Speaker
before bed. So it might be a tricky one to implement, but you probably will notice a message massive change in your sleep quality and the time it takes you to fall asleep. like I can scroll TikTok for probably 40 minutes before I go to bed and read for 15 and equally fall asleep because the reading will slow your brain down way faster. than the other stuff will. So it's also just another trick in helping your sleep quality. So true. And this is a random, random, random like kind of tidbit that I'll throw in there. But um not starting. like If you're not a reader, be like, you know what? I'm going to try reading. I'm going to take one of these tips that we're saying, and I'm going to try reading before bed. That sounds more fun than like art or crafts or whatever. um And don't start that book maybe that first night. like Maybe start it during the evening. Get into the first chapter. like Let yourself get into the book, because something is going to be interesting, but not so like ah dramatic and like hooks you so much that you're going to then stay up late reading it. right But don't start at all. So I've made that mistake like picking up kind of a boring book and starting right before bed. And it's just like, you're either going to get the itch to get back on your phone, or you're going to want to do something else or whatever. But OK. And I honestly- That's a great tip. like As a reader, actually, I think I totally do that all the time. I have not finished so many books. I try to start at night.
00:06:25
Speaker
But then if I start them in the afternoon one day, wow, that's amazing. I didn't really do that, but I do. So that's a good point. Sweet. Okay, good. Glad it's confirmed by by a real reader. um you know you I'm getting there. I know I'm getting there. I am working on it. Ayla's so proud of me. um But okay, honestly, and like you said, Ayla, I also thought that those things wouldn't tire me either until I started reading again just a little bit, just kind of recently. And like holy guacamole, let me tell you that is a great way to get tired. Like especially if you get like a nice boring book. I mean, there's all kinds of books you can get, but like you could also literally, if you want to just be bored to sleep, you get like an entrepreneurial business book. I'm telling you right here have done that. Guilty as charged. Um, and you will be, you will be tired. Start reading about finances and investments, things you should be doing. You're going to be very tired.
00:07:13
Speaker
tired and stressed, no I'm just kidding, um but just don't have it be like I said too interesting of a story or you'll be up till 2am. But if you're like me and you literally just like cannot, like this is also so random because I was going to chime in and say maybe someone could take a little craft before bed or something, but if you are like me and you cannot leave a task undone, like physically cannot do it, then don't do crafts before bed because I've also tried that. And like i will just stay up i mean I'm up till three in the morning. Again, like if I start a task, a craft, and I'm like, oh my gosh, or like a DIY project, that will that' eat you alive. But if you are not like me, um that's also something you can do in the evenings before you go to bed. like Start a little DIY project. Do something in your house.
00:07:53
Speaker
right and Yeah, keep them simple for sure. like You don't have to start like a whole macrame wall or anything like that. but like it Just simple, simple little something. Beth, you would? is that That is the source of a one of my all-nighters in my in my lifetime. yes yeah certainly that It was also literally ah like as big as my wall. and I hated it after and guess who threw it away? Oh my gosh. It's great. I just, I need to learn when to start projects. I'm still learning that. But if it's something, yeah, if it's something that you can just do passively for 10, 20 minutes, however long you fall asleep. but yes Exactly. But yeah, so that was the first one. Get it your phone out of hand out of your hands before you go to bed.
00:08:33
Speaker
Yeah, I guess I'll take it away with number two then if
Improving Focus by Limiting Phone Use
00:08:36
Speaker
we're ready for that. So when you are working, and this especially applies to those who work from home or maybe who are self-employed, keep your phone in another room while you work. Ayla has mentioned this before. um She's great at this, and she mentioned this on our productivity episode actually a few weeks back. and it really holds up so of course this may look different if you have a spouse or kids who need to be able to reach during the day but if you can swing it leave your phone in another room during your working time um if you have to have your phone in the room put it on do not disturb also real quick note um
00:09:09
Speaker
oh well actually so real quick actually you can customize this feature so the important contacts if you do not disturb you can have like important contacts like your family members or your boss so reach out to you but all the other like useless notifications will be completely silenced so just in case you didn't know that um then you know make sure you set your phone like screen side down and out of your reach Literally, there's been weird studies that show that like having your phone screen side up even if nothing is like lighting up on it Literally makes distracts your brain and draws you towards it and I've also personally I don't know if it's because I know about that study and I'm like biased But I swear I've also personally experienced that like I'm literally turning it around less draw so crazy, but it's true um But you'd be amazed by how much these little changes like me actually reduce your hours of screen time.
00:09:52
Speaker
Something so random though, if I can say. Have you seen those little boxes on like TikTok and Instagram? They're little lock boxes for your phone. Yes, I don't know if they're a good idea. I won't say that. No, I... and basically yeah ah so Basically, for those who are listening who maybe don't know what we're talking about. It's these little boxes that people sell for your phone for productivity. It's a lockbox for your phone and you basically set a timer for like, let's say you want to work without like your phone for 30 minutes. You put your phone as a lockbox, you lock it and set the timer and it will not let you access your phone for 30 minutes.
00:10:25
Speaker
let's hope these never like malfunction and you like, lose but you know, I think you can probably break the box or whatever. But the point is like, it helps you with productivity. So that's a thought if you want to do something like that. Oh, I think that's what I need. Like, yeah because like, ah so scrolling when I'm down to the wire is such an issue. For me, I like again, setting it in another room around my reach is great. I think the only downside would again be like, if somebody needed to call me. It sounds like I'm so important. It's literally just my husband who I don't want to call us from. but but It's not even like he calls that much, but you know that's like the only area where I'd want like maybe maybe a backup, like being able to message him from my computer or something like that. Which you can do, hopefully. Yeah, yeah like just on WhatsApp or Messenger or whatever. but i there was just one time I'll show you the story because I keep coming back to it. There was one time.
00:11:17
Speaker
where I did him dirty and he needed me. It's just simple. like He went to the store or something and I had my phone in the other room and I you know wear noise kind canceling headphones in my office during the day. so you know He called and called a few times and then he came home and he was like, what are you doing? And I was like, what? Like, it was like the seed from Tiger King when he's like, I called for help and fuck you. What do you need or nothing? Nothing. And it wasn't that serious. It was fine. But he, you know, so he just said, he's like, if your phone's in the other room, can you make sure you can still hear it? Whatever. So it's just in those instances.
00:11:56
Speaker
but he's also showed me videos of that lockbox for the phone and he's like, is this what you
The ‘Dumb’ Phone Concept
00:12:02
Speaker
need? And I'm like, probably he thinks. That's so funny. Oh my gosh. I love that. Okay. So my next tip kind of goes in with the one that you just said, Beth. um But I did, again, want to acknowledge that I know many business owners or employees do actually need their phones for work, like for posting on your socials. um Maybe your calendars on there a lot of your organization like I know a lot of people actually need their devices for work And I know this and I'm not saying you can't do that I'm not saying don't use your phones for work like they're amazing devices for a reason
00:12:33
Speaker
They make a lot of things easier for a reason, but it's super easy to begin the scrolling cycle while working. If your phone's already in your hands, the amount of times I posted to my Instagram and then I'm like, great, I'm going to be here for 40 minutes. Um, I actually listened to to an amazing episode on the heart and hustle podcast a while back where one of the hosts, Lindsay Roman and her husband, they took like a phone sabbatical, I think for a month and they made their phones dumb. Wow. So they had rules about like their socials because obviously both of them still needed their phones for day to day life and work, but they made their phones dumb instead of a smartphone. Um, so I'll link their episode in the show notes. Um, hopefully I'll remember to do that, but it's the heart and hustle podcast episode 255 and it's titled, we didn't touch our phones or social media for a month. Here's what happened. I'm quoting this because they go into depth on how to make your phone dumb, but if you still need it for work and are trying to reduce your screen time,
00:13:30
Speaker
It's seriously an amazing episode. They go into way more detail than I could today, and I highly, highly recommend it if you're an entrepreneur who still needs your phone, but you're trying to reduce your screen time. I think about it all the time, so when you're done with this episode, feel free to go give theirs a listen. They talk about things like um ah just social media restrictions, like time restrictions, literally changing your phone to black and white, Uh, because that in and of itself reduces a lot of the dopamine that you get from your phone. course Muting all of the tiny little notifications, all these things and plus more. So, uh, I highly recommend that episode if you still need your phone day today.
00:14:07
Speaker
That's amazing. So fascinating. And I mean, we've said it before, but everyone should do a, not just a social media cleanse, but a phone cleanse every now and then because not everyone's going to be able to maybe do it for a month, but, um, looking into something like that would be super cool. But even just taking, you know, weekends without your phone. I know every rep also Evelyn. Oh, actually Evelyn McLeod now, sorry. yeah She's married. Whoops. But from the Heart and Hustle podcast as well. She does. ah For years, I've seen her do like temporary you know ah weekends without her phone all the time just to recharge. So big fan of that. But anyways, love that.
Being Present without Phones
00:14:40
Speaker
Thanks for sharing that. um So next, and ah this one is hard to say.
00:14:45
Speaker
But when I was thinking about a lot of times where I'm just sitting on my phone, it's also while I'm watching TV. And I love putting on my comfort shows and my movies for background noise. And of course, this results in me being on my phone while the TV is on. Bonus points if you're also working on your laptop while doing this because me often. Yeah, exactly. But this may not seem like a huge change, but as often as you can during the week, if you're having your movie or show time, pick something new to watch. And again, leave your phone somewhere else in the house. I know that you're technically still watching a screen, but this is another small way that I think tons of people can practice being more present in their daily lives.
00:15:25
Speaker
Um, you know, and resisting that mindless urge to be on your phone for no reason, that's kind of when it becomes a habit. It's when it kind of just really grips into your mind, becomes a habit, all that stuff. Um, if you're settling in for the evening to watch a show, whether you're alone or with a partner, like challenge yourself to watch something new and not to pick up your phone once for the entire thing. And reason we say pick something new is because it'll maybe be more engaging if you're just watching something you've memorized. You're going to pick up your phone. You're going to get bored. If you really just want a comfort show for background noise one evening, that's great too, but then I would encourage you to pick up something else from the list. Ayla and I mentioned about things to do before going to bed, so like a crossword, maybe art, a craft.
00:16:06
Speaker
like it doesn't matter like anything there's even those like viral easy hobbies floating around like diamond painting or puzzling like you can find so many things to do if you just want to look you know and then you have to try it and see because maybe you'll end up liking it um you can totally multitask while listening to a comfort show or watching a comfort show but let's eliminate your phone from this equation Yeah, yeah, basically. um Like k Chris and I have a difference between shows we just watch at night to unwind and then like a movie night. And when it's a new thing, we haven't seen neither of us go on our phones. And it's not like a rule, it's just kind of naturally happened.
00:16:37
Speaker
um And then, yeah, like, I just that's probably another time where so much of my screen time goes is my list is scrolling during a show like after I'm done working for the day. So I just like the idea of finding something else to do with that time. I'll actually if it's a show Chris is watching I can read while he has a show going and then I'm still like present in the room with him but that's like something else I'm doing or yeah, just one of the silly, silly little crafts, anything really, if you just have to sit and have your zone out time, but still want background noise, just take your phone out of the equation. Just do something that's not, that's not your phone. And again, it's going to be uncomfy probably at first. You're going to want to go pick it back up, but it just takes practice. It's like exercising a new muscle.
Breaking Phone Reliance with Challenges
00:17:20
Speaker
Next, I love this one. I do this all the time. It's kind of like what you said, Beth, with the phones, with like no phone on a weekend. But start leaving your phone at home for the small errands. like yeah Seriously, I quite literally actually challenge every single listener here today, if you're listening right now, leave your phone at home the next time you leave the house if you know you won't need it. For the next small errand you have to do, whether you're picking someone up from school or doing getting their groceries real quick or just running to get gas, um society has created this insane illusion that you need to be reachable all of the time and you really don't.
00:17:58
Speaker
And hear me out. I know a lot of business owners may be listening listening to this and disagreeing. And I understand how on the go business can be. I definitely understand that. ah But another hot take is I disagree. yeah If you need to leave the house for one hour to get groceries, I think you 1000% should be able to go without your phone. um I don't know every business owner in the world. I know there's people beyond our photography niche who I don't know what your life looks like, so maybe this isn't the best tip for you, but I just kind of think one hour of being underreach ah unreachable isn't unreasonable. you know I think that's a reasonable thing to ask. um Try it when you can. Write your grocery list on the actual paper, listen to the radio, or nothing in the car on the way there as opposed to what's on your phone.
00:18:44
Speaker
and run at least one errand this week, one errand anytime this week without your phone. And I'm adding this tip because what this practice does is it breaks the false reliance you think you have on your phone. Your body and mind have been fully conditioned to feel your phone in your back pocket, in your purse, wherever you keep it. And this breaks that false reliance and begins to teach your body that you don't actually need it to survive. ah This could translate to you not relying on your phones in lots of other places, going to see your friends, going to a party. Because we've all done it where we forget our phone once, and we're constantly like patting our pocket. And we're like, oh, I don't have it. I don't have it. Doing this more often on purpose breaks that bond that your brain has made with your phone.
00:19:23
Speaker
and breaks whatever kind of primal instincts we think we need it for, and just gets rid of that. Oh, I went and ran an errand without my phone. I don't actually need it probably for this than this and this other part of my life. Exactly. It's just a domino effect or a snowball effect. like It's going to start affecting, like you said, a whole relationship with your phone and your your mind's connection with it. The only thing I will say, I have another thought about this, but I also will say the only caveat or whatever is just make sure it's something safe. like I'm because you like depending on where you live or what you're going to do just like you might need your phone for like an emergency so that maybe the middle ground yeah but like that I agree with you wholeheartedly I think there's also like a middle ground third ah or like yeah like a third option.
00:20:08
Speaker
um is to maybe turn your phone completely off during the errand and have it like at the bottom of your bag or something. Yeah. Oh, I like that. Something like that. Yeah. but that Because the point, yeah. Because also, again, you're not going to just, your phone's off. You can't just check a notification. Like if you need it for an emergency, you can turn it back on and use it, but something like that. But anyways, I i used to actually, I actually used to think this too that I always had to be reachable since my business revolves around communication in a lot of ways, but then I realized that, and this is really what changed it for me. I don't even respond to all my messages immediately or even very quickly anyways. So if I run errands or go swimming or just want to do the first half of my day without my phone at all, as long as I actually do get to those messages as soon as I'm back at the computer or my phone,
00:20:53
Speaker
yeah All is well. like It's fine. like It took me realizing that being glued to my phone didn't equal immediate response time every time anyways well have to be able to do more and more daily things without my phone. Because I thought I really just had such a guilt about it. And then I realized, wait a second. It's been two days since I've responded to this person anyways. And my phone's been on me the whole time. like It doesn't make a difference. And I'm actually i'm actually better at responding to messages when I take break breaks from my phone, which I think we've kind of touched on before too. right you're blocking out that time like now i'm sitting and actually responding rather than getting the notification while i'm trying to be out enjoying myself for an hour like yeah no i like that i
00:21:28
Speaker
You know, those are two really great clarifying points and good point mentioning like safety with your phone too. I actually didn't think about that at all. So that's a good, I like the middle ground. I didn't think about that at all. Clearly I live somewhere safe, but yeah. Well, and no, and it's different for every two that some people might not think about that. Someone might not live in a safe area, but go to do that anyways. And it's like, you know, I just want to make sure I I'm just always thinking about that kind of thing. Maybe too much, but even Like if you're going, you know, maybe you're going on a run and you don't need it. Like there's definitely things that could happen. and Totally. I don't know. But anyways, but to be honest, before phones, people did things without them all the time. So we we really don't. Most likely we will not need it for an emergency, but I just feel like we had to say it.
00:22:07
Speaker
No, that's good. and They get it. They understand.
Setting Boundaries with Social Media
00:22:09
Speaker
They do. They do. Okay, so moving on. Is this tip number six? It doesn't matter. We're moving on anyways. I think so. Roughly six. Exactly. A great thing to do and my husband actually does this. I don't, to be honest, guilty as charged, but my husband does do this. ah Set screen time limits on your social so you can actually go and take your social media apps. Probably all of them, but I know at least Instagram and you can like say I don't want to spend more than an hour or 30 minutes a day on Instagram and then when that happens, once you've reached that time limit, Instagram will pop up a message in your face, kind of like stop your scrolling and tell you like, hey, you've reached your time limit. it Do you want to like get off the app? You know, hey, idiot, like you're, you're doing scrolling again. But, um, I don't do that because I, I am so inconsistent with my social media. So I'm like, sometimes I'm on it batching for four hours and sometimes I'm not on it at all. That's an excuse I know, but still.
00:22:58
Speaker
Well, i i like I included this tip understanding that a lot of business owners probably are on Instagram daily for their work, but ah it could apply to all kinds of other areas where you do them scroll, like Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, whatever your other vices are. um I think all of them have that kind of option. So even if you just eliminated a couple from the smorgasbord of socials on your phone. And, you know what, it kind of goes with this oddly enough. At least I feel like it goes with this. um Something I did start trying to do. I do try to limit my screen time, obviously. I just haven't actually gone into set a legitimate like limit um on the apps. But um something that I was just set for myself as a goal like three weeks ago was I made a rule for myself that I'm not allowed to scroll on Instagram until I posted.
00:23:44
Speaker
So every morning that I get on on social media, I literally have to post first before I can like pass into the world of scrolling. It's a reward. Exactly. And it kind of complicates just two things. One, I need to get a lot more consistent about posting on social media. Like I i know that. I have to get better about that. And so that's kind of like my current experiment and solution. um I know I have a friend who really was like exploding on social media because she was posting like every single day. And that's like the only change she made. And I was like, well, shoot, that's I guess like what I need to start doing. We all know this.
00:24:18
Speaker
But it's hard to do, and we've always made excuses in the past if like, I don't have time to post that much. It's like, yes, you do, because you scroll that much. So that's kind of my answer to that. It's like, all right, I think that's true. I think the statistic is true that like we do have time because you scroll this much. So in order to scroll, I post. And oftentimes, what you know what else that helps with? Every time someone likes it, likes my reel that I post or writes a comment, it pulls me out of my scrolling because I'll be scrolling and I'll get a comment that I have to go to respond to. So I'll only end up scrolling for like 10, 15 minutes afterwards most of the time. If that, so it helps with a lot of things. So I also recommend that as like an option to go with all this. It ends up getting your phone out of your hand somehow. And it's productive. I like that. That's really good as someone who also needs to work.
00:25:02
Speaker
on how often they post on socials. I really like that. Well, and what you said I think deserves to be reiterated was if you have time to scroll, you have time to post. Yes. like It's actually insane that I'll scroll for half an hour and then I'm like, I don't have time for my social media. I'm literally on it. so You do. Exactly. Ooh, that got so real. That got real so quickly. I know. um Okay, but this next one, i am here for another hot take, but delete your social media apps. Again, exceptions to business owners posting on Instagram bubble. I get it. Delete your social media apps for at least a week and don't tell anybody. Don't make an announcement. Don't make a, I'm getting off my socials for a week announcement. Again, if you're a business owner going on vacation,
00:25:50
Speaker
And you do actually want to be off your socials for a week. That's fine. You know, know'll be like, I'm, I'm on vacation. I'll be responding to messages on Monday until then. Just wait, be patient. But I'm saying if you're a normal person, like this episode's also kind of directed to just normal people, not saying you're just normal. If you're not an entrepreneur, youre read you know, regular everyday people, whatever your job is, whatever we're talking to you too. to get off your socials and don't make an announcement like we see that all the time like oh i'm taking a social media break i'm taking a break from my social media i heard this could i don't mean to be mean i heard this comedian once say she was like people who announce a social media break on social media are like alcoholics throwing one more big rager
00:26:33
Speaker
to announce they're just quitting drinking. It's like, you're not off to a great start. So sorry, as it's like so funny. That's funny. But no I'm just saying, like just try just delete it and don't tell anybody. Because also what this does, especially um for people out there who don't use their Instagram for work, this kind of teaches you truthfully, honestly, that nobody actually cares that you've taken a break from your socials in a good, healthy way. like Again, you don't have to be so reachable. nobody missed you, I guess. And it's just like, I don't know. just Just delete them for at least a week. Delete them on Monday. You can have them back the next Monday. That's completely fine. And see what changes in that week and don't tell anybody about it. Just go do that for yourself. Let it be for something for yourself. yeah um Cause I'm sure people, the people important to you contact you some other way anyway and just see how that goes. And something I've started telling people with um like,
00:27:31
Speaker
big changes like changing your diet or going to the gym or something like this is don't commit to do it for the rest of your life. Commit to one week. Do it perfectly for one week. Make it to the gym three days out of the week, one week. um Eat as best as you can for just one week. Make it one week. Do the same with your socials one week and you'll probably like the change so much that naturally it you apply it for longer periods of time. right you know well like I like that a lot and it's a really good reminder and a good point and something that that brought something to my mind that I bet something that happens psychologically when people make an announcement, I'm gone for a week, I'm gone for, I'm i'm taking a three day social media break, whatever. It creates this psychological need to come back and tell people they're back. So you're actually, before you've even started, you've
00:28:18
Speaker
signed up to go back to old habits. so if you which is Again, that's a little something, a little maybe psychological analysis there I wonder, but yeah that's that's another maybe another reason to not say anything. but Okay, love that, love all that. Uh, I think we're basically on our last, uh, last little tidbit here. Um, the last one I have is to plan more activities with people.
Enhancing Social Interaction to Reduce Phone Use
00:28:42
Speaker
So hopefully when you're around people, you aren't on your phone as much. So I have found it helps when I try to do like weekly hangouts with my friends, um, for at least a couple hours, um, or just as many days of the week as I can, whenever fitting it in, I can't, whether it's scheduled out or impromptu.
00:28:57
Speaker
um and I just don't have my phone on me during that time or I have it on, but it's just like um it's in my bag. I don't touch it. I don't look at it. um Whether we're doing tennis or pickleball or diving or just going to eat, my phone like isn't used very much around them. so um It was kind of like a random thing that I could equate to this and I started realizing a side benefit of hanging out with with my people more often is, gosh, I'm just not on my phone during that time um and it's really nice. No, I love that. That's awesome. And even like Beth was just, uh, we were in person a little while ago when Beth was in Canada. And even just like, if you have to be working, even work dates, like I found when we were both set up with our computer. Neither of us was really just scrolling. So true. We worked more because I feel like, you know, we, we did a good job. Like if we were both just editing, we could edit and talk.
00:29:44
Speaker
Yeah. And the little bit of chatting that we did kind of itched that scratch to be doing something else like scrolling. It did. And then we just sat and worked. I got actually kind of a lot done. No, but for real. No, but actually. Yeah. It's so true. It's so true. People really, and honestly, that's really one of the big curses of our phones and social media is it's disconnected us from people. People being one of the things that could solve us from that issue we have with social media. So it's almost like, what's that freight? What's that like? It's like a vicious cycle. Yeah, I know there's like a phrase for that, but it's like the thing that can cure you is the thing that you're like taking yourself away from or whatever. Thank you, whatever that is. whatever But you know where it's like, yeah. The very people who can help us or the people who are pushing away by being on our phones and disconnecting ourselves from society. Whoa, dang.
00:30:30
Speaker
Beth, I had one more thing before we wrap it up. This is this popped in my head, because as we were kind of talking, I was just thinking of other areas. like What are other areas where I find myself like sitting and scrolling, not being productive? And I find another big chunk of time that I definitely waste is right when I come home from work, like when I come home from a day job. Oh, that was me today. I come home. Like I'll leave my day job and I have like a 20 minute drive and I'm like, I'm going to go home and I take a shower. I'm going to do this. Like I cannot stop because especially like I had a call with Beth. And so I was like, I have this window of time where I need to be productive. And then every time without fail,
00:31:05
Speaker
I come home, i sit I scroll, and I try to do like, you know, I get home at 1.30, so I try to say like, just till 1.45. Never happens. It always surpasses. 1.45. I don't necessarily have advice, but that is another area where I find I sit and scroll, and I am trying to like find habits to get rid of that. Whether again, it's like plugging my phone in and just going and doing something or whatever. So I don't know if if you've come across that and have any advice, but that's like one more area that I could think of where I need to get my phone out of my hands. First of all, great mention because I think that's also, I know we talked about nighttime scrolling is like, I don't know if we mentioned that today or another time, but like we mentioned that is a big, one of the biggest times when people probably do that, but also this people getting home from work. I have experienced that too, in regards to like getting off of like maybe a wedding day.
00:31:52
Speaker
or, um, also just back when I like, from airways, like nine to five jobs or air, like I definitely experienced that. And it's obviously, I think we know it's because our brain's trying to unwind. Um, so like for me, what I found helps and this isn't, ah Like i don't always do this perfectly cuz sometimes i come home and i don't really feel the need to scroll but if i start i know it sounds so so silly um but like if i start like a a podcast or honestly for me oftentimes like a youtube like political video or something like if i start one
00:32:25
Speaker
that like in the car maybe about 10 minutes before I get home and I get really into it and maybe it's like an hour episode or something, um then I'll get out of the car still listening to it and I can just go right into working instead of scrolling. If I'm using my phone to listen to a podcast or a show or or so or something political, I won't stop that that I'm into to start scrolling. So usually it gives me enough grace and time and interest to start getting into another task, whether it's like a home project I'm working on or start editing or start calling. Like it allows me to seamlessly kind of go into the next thing without the urge to scroll. Cause I'd have to stop what I'm enjoying right now in order to start scrolling. like It's not perfect and maybe it won't work, yeah but it's worked enough for me in the past where I feel like I could mention it.
00:33:07
Speaker
Oh, no, that is helpful. That's really good. The only other thing I'm kind of starting to implement, I mean, sometimes I just, I'm just too busy and pressure is a motivator. True. Which isn't the best, but you know, whatever. No, yeah. Whatever helps sometimes, but um I just, I like, I straight cannot sit on my couch. I cannot. If I sit on my couch, the battle is over. It's so, it's so over if I sit down. So i I still come home, get my shoes off, set my stuff down, put everything away, change into my comfort clothes. And then I just have to keep going, whether it's going straight to my office. like It's one of those things where it's like, I come home and scroll. Well, just don't do that. I understand that's hard, but I will. Easier said than done. Yeah. it's just don't Just don't sit on your couch or your bed. Just don't do it. Go go anywhere else and do anything else. Even again, just for 10 minutes.
00:33:53
Speaker
And, you know, the task doing part of your brain probably, hopefully will kick in, kick in. Yeah. No, honestly though, that's the truth of the matter is some things in life are just easier said than done, but that's just how you have to do them. So yeah, I know that, like you said, I, it sounds like, Oh, just like, don't do dont do it. Guess what? Sometimes that's life. Sometimes you just have to, that's called, that's called, I don't even know the word for it. Cause I apparently don't have it. Thank you. got yes that's called That's called discipline, it's called strong will. I have a strong will, just not for work. um No, but that's that's called discipline. We have to do sometimes things that we don't like that are not easy, but anyways.
00:34:32
Speaker
If you can't tell, as much as we appreciate and and can enjoy the simplicity and innovation smartphones have brought us, at the end of the day, I do think the potential for harm and distraction they can cause and needs to be taken seriously. Like we said in the beginning of this episode, we challenge you to implement at least two items from this list into your everyday life that you aren't already doing. So please just do it. And you know what? We'd love if you can let us know how it went. we love yeah We love hearing from you guys and interacting with you all and the little community of go-getters you know we have here. so i and Just in the spirit of support and like Ayla and I admitted at the beginning of this, we aren't even perfectly doing all these ourselves. We're working on some of them, some of them you know news to each other, teaching each other things, growing together. so I actually think
00:35:20
Speaker
I'm going to devote myself to working on actually the first point that Ayla made, no scrolling at all before bed, like not doing the nighttime scrolling.
Personal Commitments to Better Phone Habits
00:35:28
Speaker
I have kind of mentioned already even just this in this episode and other episodes that I'm trying to have a better of relationship with my phone and with social media. And I kind of implemented that other thing that I talked about earlier. I think this would be a good addition with that of like just also no scrolling at night. And I've kind of during different times of my life, not scrolled at night, but never been super successful about it. So I would like to make that a consistent rule for myself. And I think I could, I have enough, I've got enough to do in my life where I can find other things or other hobbies, maybe even reading consistently at night again, because I had a little bit of that. I might go back into it, so we'll see.
00:36:02
Speaker
I know, I know. Ayla over here is going to turn me into a reader. You and one of my other friends is just like, you guys are making me become a reader. And I'm like, what is what's happening? i I'm here for it. I'm so excited. I know. Oh, my gosh. I think for myself, I'm going to try to not be scrolling while the TV is on. That's that's good. Yeah, that is so much of my screen time. And um I think that'll be the hardest one to change because I just love my comfort shows and scrolling. It's a big way to unwind. But even if it's comfort shows and something else or something new that I can get into, whatever. But yeah ah yeah, that I think is the one I am going to work on this week. Maybe Beth and I should talk about it. Again, coming up here and see see how that's going. The next time we record, we can we can talk about it. um But yeah, I'm really excited. Definitely, like Beth said, let us know which tip was your favorite. Let us know if you started any and what you thought by heading over to our Instagram at Art of Intention podcast. Hop right into our DMs and tell us all about it. Love it.
00:37:01
Speaker
All right. For all other questions, topic, or guest requests, you can send us an email at art of intention podcast at gmail.com. Feel free to leave us your rating interview wherever you listen to your podcast. We'd love a five star from you. We'll take a floor, but truthfully. she No, no, we won't stop, Ayla. Don't listen to Ayla. Nope, I won't i won't take it. We'll only take five stars. five stars all day. No, whether that's on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Zencaster, wherever you listen to your podcast. And we will see you next Tuesday with another episode. Bye. Bye.