Well, that’s one way to handle a check-in addiction (above photo); however, there are healthier ways of dealing with it. Yesterday, I asked the question:
Do you have a check-in addiction?
Constantly needing to check-in to your mobile device can often pull us away from what truly deserves our attention. Here are a few tips to help control a check-in addiction:
From The 99 Percent:
Have you ever been caught sleeping with your mobile device? Perhaps checking your email first-thing in the morning when you’re still in bed? Given what we know about the emotional voids that are fulfilled by our electronic devices – the search for thrill, the alleviation of anxiety and panic – our intense attachment makes sense. When we wake up we want to be greeted. When we fall asleep we want to do so knowing that all is well. The mobile phone has become the security blanket of the 21st century.
1. Understand your emotional connection to your device.
Although we are not connected to smartphones in an emotional way, we use them to make emotional actions. Therefore, according to author Jane Vincent in her book Thumb Culture, these are the emotional states which are commonly referenced:
Panic: Absence from the device; being separated from it.
Irrational behavior: The inability to control heart over mind (e.g. driving and talking).
Thrill: Novelty, multi-tasking, intimacy of the text received in public.
Anxiety: Fear and desire (for example, wanting to know about others vs. too much knowledge).
Being mindful of the root cause of a check-in addiction will ultimately lead to curbing these emotional connections.
2. Tune in with “intention” not “impulse.”
The 99 Percent likens this to looking through the refrigerator. You’re not really hungry, but your boredom has driven you to dig through the fridge. I’m sure you’ve seen people do this with their smartphone. Staring at the screen with a blank stare, not really looking for anything specific, just … checking.
Our devices tap into our impulsive side.
Try to be active instead of reactive. Train yourself to only check your device when you have a specific purpose in mind. Don’t let other people’s emails and Tweets dictate when you use your device. You decide.
3. Use your device for communication “sprints,” then take a break.
If you give a mouse a cookie, he’ll ask for a glass of milk, if you give him a glass of milk, he’ll ask for … you get the idea. One thing leads to another.
Smartphones have a way of sucking us in. You intentionally check your email, after all, you are waiting to hear back from an important client; but before you know it, you’re checking Twitter, Facebook and some other app.
Taking a page from the Scrum playbook, think of each interaction with your mobile as a mini-sprint. For instance, you need to respond to one urgent client email, and text your web developer about a key decision. Once those tasks are done, it’s time to disengage. One person we spoke with shared the tip that he counts down from 20 when he does a quick check-in on his phone, especially when he’s surrounded by other people. Just the mindset of counting down forces him to quickly check rather than meander.
Get it in, get out, get back to what you were doing.
4. Observe good “attention etiquette.”
Smartphone’s are about better communication. Don’t be rude.
Writer Farhad Manjoo crowd-sourced an answer to the “attention etiquette” question on Slate.com, and came up with a great approach. He proposes, “If you’re in a situation where you’d excuse yourself to go to the bathroom, you should also excuse yourself before reaching for your phone.” He goes on to suggest that, if you do feel compelled to reach for your phone, “don’t play with your phone longer than you’d stay in the bathroom.”
Of course, if you are using a device to take notes during a meeting, that’s different. In fact, that can be a sign of deeper engagement. We all know what it’s like to be standing around watching someone else talk to someone how isn’t there.
Have you been working on curbing your check-in addiction?
[via 99%]
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