Choosing Yourself in a Smartphone Society
In the past few years, I’ve learned a thing or two about asserting myself and asking for what I want. I believe this ability to ask has led to faster promotions, a husband who does more than his share of the housework, and a daughter who knows that mommy deserves some “off-duty” time.
Boundaries are something I’ve become good at.
However, in one specific area of my life, I realized I wasn’t setting boundaries the right way. In fact, I’d built up an addiction that made it difficult to set boundaries. This particular area is also widely accepted in society as a perfectly reasonable addiction to have.
We joke about our addiction but don’t do anything about it.
What is this socially acceptable addiction? Cell phone screen time.
Earlier this year, I tracked my screen time use and I learned that over the course of just 4 months, I spent 7 full 24-hour days on my phone.
Can you believe that?
Multiplied over the course of a year, I would’ve spent 21 full days of my year on my phone.
That’s time that I could’ve spent reading, writing, enjoying family time or taking myself out on a walk.
But instead, that time was wasted (likely in endless scrolling) on my phone.
If given the choice, I would put that time into places that I enjoy, placed that I love.
So, I decided to make that choice and switch from a smartphone to an old school flip phone.
The hardest part about switching to a flip phone was that I had to switch my cell phone plan. I went to my service provider and simply asked to downgrade to a non-smartphone and they didn’t even offer one.
So I had to go to Walmart (who was sold out of the phone on three different occasions).
I could’ve said at any point, this isn’t worth it…
… but I knew that if I kept my smartphone I would continue to lose my precious time, my ability to be present in the moment, my ability to choose what I need in each moment.
That was more than worth it.
So I ordered the phone online and arranged for in-store pick-up.
What I’ve gained
Time
I am now three days into my intentional cell phone journey and if I were just calculating my screen time alone, I have gained back 4.5 hours on average so far.
The ability to think clearly
Without a window into what everyone else is doing, how other people are improving their lives, and other people’s opinions, I’m better able to hear myself.
I have more clarity into my wants and needs already.
Confidence
Every action that you take in support of your needs gives you more confidence that you can do it again. I feel freer and I’ve built even more trust in myself now that I’ve listened to myself and took action on that need.
The community, culture and society all have an impact in the way we live our lives. We, however, have to choose whether we’re happy with our lives. Is there something you’d like to remove from your life if you were to ignore all the social norms and expectations? If so, know that you have the power to change anything you want.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!