5 ms·
I did something interesting this week. I teach high school, and this was our first week back at school. No students yet, just beginning of the year prep work.
by japhyr 9y ago
I did something interesting this week. I teach high school, and this was our first week back at school. No students yet, just beginning of the year prep work.
I was checking my phone every 5-10 minutes half out of restlessness at sitting inside all day, and also to keep up with rapidly evolving events in the world. But I wanted to focus more, without turning my phone off. So I put my phone in my left pocket instead of my right pocket.
It worked. Every time I reached for my phone, I had to think consciously how to get it out. That interrupted the cycle of just pulling it out enough to make me only pull it out once in a while. It went back to being a tool I use to do lots of things, rather than something I use to fill time when there's nothing to do for 30 seconds. The first step he mentions, simply being aware of these habits and breaking the cycles, can go a long way in keeping these habits from becoming too entrenched.
- danielhooper 9y agoSmart idea. I get a similar effect when I logout of sites like Twitter and have to face a login page when I revisit. It breaks me from my unconscious loop and lets me decide that this is not actually how I want to spend my time. Do you think changing the pocket is enough, or rather its that you're switching your dominant/non-dominant hands?
- japhyr 9y agoIt was really interesting to see what patterns switching pockets interrupted for me. One was the simple act of reaching for the phone - I had to consciously think about where it is. Then it feels unfamiliar to even start to pull it out of my left pocket. Then I have to decide to swipe and operate it with my non-dominant hand, or switch it over and use my right hand. There were more opportunities to break the cycle than I would have expected. I was surprised to learn there are people who don't keep their phone in a particular pocket, who this wouldn't work for.
- giancarlostoro 9y agoDoesn't work for me, I put my phone in any pocket and look for it in any pocket. Though if I want to stop using my phone it's easier to just uninstall apps that are distracting. Takes a lot more effort to install said app.
- quickben 9y agoTry what I did. Set do not disturb mode always on. Wife/family go through. The rest, once in a while I'll open and see what tried to get my attention. I'm one. Crap apps with tons of pointless notifications are many. I own this phone and my time.
- ssivark 9y agoI think that putting in just a bit of friction ("activation barrier") is a generally useful technique to make one's actions more conscious and deliberate. Some more examples, off the top of my head: 1. Deciding to use a social media website as a website rather than an app. 2. Using a long password which you have to manually type in every time. 3. Creating a separate browsing profile for a certain category of browsing. Eg: work profile -vs- fun profile 4. Leave the TV remote inside a drawer/shelf rather than just lying around on the couch. I'm interested in hearing more suggestions! PS: The counterpoint to this technique is to reduce friction for the things you would like to do more often.
- gtdawg 9y ago> 1. Deciding to use a social media website as a website rather than an app. > 2. Using a long password which you have to manually type in every time. Yes! I do both of these for facebook and I rarely use it now. It's been great. The only downside is the friends who insist on group facebook messenger conversations (mbasic) which I won't see for a couple of days, and then need to repeatedly log in to keep up on an active topic or coordination/meet-up.