Want To Enjoy Life More? Put Down Your F*cking Phone
Too harsh? We need to regroup.
How do you feel after mindlessly scrolling through Instagram? Do you feel good? No. You feel bored, worthless, guilty, anxiety-filled, angry, depressed and oh so alone.
Soooo? Why the eff do we do it?
Because our phones are our defensive mechanisms. Without them, we feel exposed, vulnerable and lonely. We’ve grown so accustomed, so attached, to a rectangle that breaks our wrists as much as it breaks our hearts that we will do anything to keep that protective armor close to us.
The beauty in this disgrace? We can change it.
Let’s Be Smarter With Our Smart Phones
Technology is obviously beneficial and even essential to live today. I’m not knocking the countless perks we have from its advances. My point is we have abused our smartphone privileges, so now we have to remember why they were created in the first place — to enhance our lives, not consume them.
How can we be smarter with our smart phones, then? We need to put them the hell down when we’re at dinner. We need to leave them in another room when we’re playing with our kids. We need to set limits on how much screen time we allow ourselves. And yes, we even need to keep them in our pockets when we’re waiting in line for coffee.
If you have to be on your phone for work, so be it. We all have to be on them for work. You aren’t special. But we don’t have to be on them all day every day, so have some self control, give your bloodshot eyes a break and schedule more meetings face to face.
I’m not suggesting we meet in an alley and throw our iPhones against the brick wall in gratifying unison (although that would feel liberating). I’m suggesting we spend more time off our phones than we do on them. #LessScreenTimeMoreMeTime
The World is a Beautiful Place That We Refuse To See
We’re insulting the people and world around us by obsessively checking Twitter and Facebook and text messages. And for what? To get a second’s worth of false dopamine hits?
In addition to our brain cells decreasing, we’re getting neck wrinkles, or as it has been famously coined, “Tech Neck.” Which isn’t funny. It’s gross. Think of scaling back on your mindless scrolling as an investment in improved eyesight and not-so-wrinkled necks. Ew.
Hate To Call You Out, But…
If you’re someone who automatically checks Instagram stories before your alarm goes off in the mornings — and I say this with love because we’ve all fallen victim to it — you need an intervention. If you’re someone who documents every detail of your day online — and I don’t say this with love — you need to stop.
What are we teaching our precious children by shooing them away when they’re trying to play with us? That our phones are more important than they are.
What message are we sending to our spouses and friends when they’re trying to have a conversation with us but we are choosing to distract ourselves with electronic devices? That they don’t matter.
Closing Thoughts
I hope this somewhat of an asshole post makes you think twice before texting at stoplights.
Focus more on live, human interaction and less on dissatisfying texts and DMs, and watch both your bad attitude and neck wrinkles fade away.
I have faith in us.
Thanks for reading!
