When you look at your phone, PC or tablet, do you think about the cost?
150 years ago, Henry David Thoreau wrote,
The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.
It’s now well understood that excessive screen-time is the thief of social interaction, wellness and leisure.
Here are some ideas that might help you slow, or even reverse that flow:
- Unsubscribe from almost everything. Not this, of course.
- Use devices for one purpose, and don’t sync them. eg – PC for work, phone for texts and calls, tablet for videos and music
- Stop tinkering with digital trivia, and employ technology only if there’s a massive transformational benefit from using it
- Leave your phone at home when you go out to socialise. Scary, but hey – you might get to talk to people
- Have books lying around where reading your phone is currently the default action – the loo, the bedroom, the lounge
You don’t pick up a hammer unless there’s a nail around.
Approach your phone habit with that in mind, and everything will get better.