Disarming Disruptors.

Pick up… and then tap, check, scan and scroll.

It’s so easy to be efficient and effective with our phones virtually attached to us and serving up a steady flow of communication. The different forms of messaging get funneled through in various formats – a messaging service; an email service; an inter-office communication service. We feel a compulsive need to check, read, and revert. To be available. To be visibly swift and responsive, often at the cost of methodical and qualitative. Before we know it; this adds up to a few hours of checking per day… and that’s before we’ve even got to the social media platforms.

One of the most interesting stats to check on is how many times you pick up your phone in a day. Before you check, arrive at a number in your head that you think is reasonable, as well as the number that you think pertains to you.

Overall, the average smartphone owner will unlock their phone at least 150 times a day. The average user will check their phone at least once every ten to 12 minutes.

 We have all become serial disruptors of our own daily living. We wish for more time, but don’t realize that we are the ones that make our time disappear, by compulsive tapping; checking; scanning and scrolling.

We do this on autopilot throughout the day -  interrupting our focus or current task, or our current experience to fire off responses – some we deem to be urgent and others (worse) to be non-urgent. We enter into a absent state as soon as we do this; and remove ourselves from wherever we are trying to be present.

Each time you interrupt your day to check your phone – consider asking yourself a few questions:

1.     Must I read this right now rather than be where I am?

2.     Can I finish what I am doing first?

3.     Does this reply have to go right now?

4.     Is this urgent? (And wouldn’t they call if it was?)

5.     Am I reading or replying because I am bored?

6.     Is this my best response?

Use these questions to try to break your robotic reach for your device. Try to divide your day up into several time slots where you will only check your phone at those times. You may decide to only check mails twice a day and qualitatively respond then. You may decide to check for messages three times a day and only reply to what is necessary, for you.

Watch time magically start to appear in your day! You can choose what you use the extra time for – quality time with a loved one; a caring phone call; an important work task done well; reading an interesting article; a quiet cup of coffee; a sunset.

Awareness is the first step. Creating your own communication rules to suit your effectiveness (and your lifestyle) is the second. And following those rules is what makes all the difference.

If you are successful, you will have disarmed your greatest disruptor – which is you.