Some people are on their phone all day. I am not one of them. During the workday, I tend to put my phone completely aside (I know, how am I a millennial? Actually if you know me, I’ve always been an atypical millennial in many ways, an old soul if you will).
All my app notifications are off, with exceptions made for phone calls and texts. That’s it. Not for Instagram, Facebook Messenger, or any social media, will I turn them on. If something’s important, someone will call me. This is a mindset I took years ago, when notifications were first made available. I read an article about how much of a distraction they are and have never allowed them. Who wants a bunch of random notifications constantly pinging them, distracting their focus — and simultaneously, draining their battery.
Notifications are one thing, but putting your phone away completely is frankly freeing. And if you’re not already doing that, I encourage you to make it a habit. According to a recent study by a software company called RescueTime, as of January 2020, people spent an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes per day on their phones. I imagine since then, this number has only increased.
The hours we lose to our device are probably the thing we’ll look back on one day and regret the most. What did we do before phones; how did we fill out time — and how can we get that time back now?
This little device has so much impact on our emotions. Every text, email, update, news alert, sale… it affects your mindset, and shifts your attention and sense of urgency, whether you consciously realize it or not. When it came to putting my phone away and not receiving texts, I had a sense of fear (kind of sounds funny, but for lack of a better word) that if I left my phone aside and didn’t respond, someone would think I’m ignoring them. So on a whim, I decided to turn on read receipts. I always thought read receipts on iOS were funny — like, why would you bother sending them? Now I get it.
That simple change has been a great decision. It truly allows me to disconnect without worrying if someone thinks I’m intentionally leaving them hanging. (I am not that kind of person; I always like to reply upon reading, and read receipts completely is in line with that.) Unfortunately they don’t show for group texts. I am all for transparency and this allows me to be fully transparent in such a basic format. It also allows me to be offline, present, and phone free, and that’s something I’m certainly grateful for.