The smart phone has been one of the revolutionary devices of our generation. On one hand, it has provided all available information at the tips of our fingers. Yet on the other hand it is the single device which has disrupted our cognitive abilities and social skills. Ever saw a couple having dinner where both of them are checking their phones 🙅. Foo, it seems like we are chained to them. I, myself, waste a lot of time on this device 😑

If we see someone throwing money away, we call that person crazy. This bothers us, in part, because money has value. Wasting it seems nuts. And yet we see others—and ourselves—throw away something far more valuable every day: Time.

Time is a truly finite, expendable resource: The amount we get is uncertain but surely limited. It’s even more insane to waste than money — we can’t make any more when it runs out!

As our ancestors realized with fire, we should realize that smart phone is a good servant but a bad master. We should fight to reclaim the balance. And how do we do this ? By creating some boundaries to prevent bad habits from forming.

For starters, it is very important that you delete all social media apps on your phone like facebook, twitter, instagram. Remove all push notifications that are unimportant. You won’t get killed if you don’t reply to a whatsapp message the moment you receive it. If it’s urgent, somebody will call you. Set aside a time of the day ( most likely evening ) where you can check your social feeds on the computer. If you want to go a step further use the Block App to further constrain you from opening youtube or checking gmail during your workday.

I read somewhere that by checking your mobile phone first thing in the morning, you give away your sovereignty. We don’t realize this but under the hood, our brains are getting rewired because of this addiction. Now the question is are you going to do something get back your freedom ?

PS: For further listening, go checkout this mini-podcast where the host talks about our smartphone addiction.