Just one more.
Ping.
Ding.
Another like on my picture.
Woo Hoo.
Scroll, scroll,
Another 10 minutes wasted.
Scroll more.
Another 30 minutes wasted.
Ok just a little more.
There’s an hour.
Ok let me put my phone away.
Oh there’s another like on my pic.
Let me scroll some more.
Damn, another 30 minutes.
90 minutes wasted and it was only Monday.
Ok only 30 minutes more, but I really have to do this work…
I had just wasted 2 hours of my life.
The feelings I had though.
The rush.
It was like playing slots at a casino,
But instead of hitting 3 red 7’s in a row,
All of a sudden a red heart would appear on my screen.
Then another one…
Jackpot!
I’d play some more.
I was addicted…
To the worst drug out there.
Social media.
Like other addicts,
I would find comfort in other addicts,
Checking our phones were normal.
Not having stimulating conversation was normal.
I was wasting time and my attention was getting robbed.
But why did it feel so good to check my phone every few minutes?
I did some research, and learned why.
A Harvard study found that short term dopamine loops or those little blasts of pleasure that we get when our phone dings is exactly what was keeping me coming back for more.
And I wasn’t alone.
Another Harvard survey found that U.S. adults touch their phones an average of 2600 times per day and spend a MINIMUM of 2 hours on their phone.
“Not me” you say?
Download the app Checky and see for yourself.
It measures the amount of times you unlock your phone daily and the amount of total time spent on it.
So I dropped social media, well at least the blue F.
Seems easy right.
It wasn’t.
What I thought was a quick fix simply led me to try another familiar drug called Instagram.
And it actually made things worse.
I wasn’t looking for worse, I was looking for a solution.
I came up with 5 solutions to overcome this addiction.
- Leave your devices in another room before bed. Usually I leave them in my office so I will be motivated to wake up, then write or read.
- Silence all of your notifications and make the Do Not Disturb feature your best friend.
- Power off times. Block time and situations that your phone is off. Vacations, during meals, friends and family time.
- Hands-free device in the car. (NO TEXTING or INSTAGRAMMING AND DRIVING)
Even at a stop light!
- Create new habits for receiving dopamine. It can be increased naturally, without checking your phone every 5 mins. Diet, exercise, prayer, meditation, music, getting sunlight, and rewarding yourself regularly. Remember a habit is something that is practiced at regular intervals until it’s like second nature.
Try these and send me a message with your results, I’d love to hear about the progress that you made. Email me: joe@joeperrone.biz
Checking my phone constantly wasted my valuable time. Always remember that all of your time is valuable.
I should have been using this valuable time to live the ideal life that I wanted.
But I claimed I didn’t have time to design it.
Let’s do some math.
The Harvard study found that you use your phone a minimum of 2 hours per day.
That’s 730 hours a year.
…or 91 work days
…or 30 full days
A month!!!
Even by cutting your phone time in half…
Do you think you could find some time to design your ideal life?
You only get one life and “not having time” to live it is one of the worst mistakes you can make.
I have many of these simple keys that I share with my clients.
They seem so simple, yet many overlook them.
When you continually ignore the simple things, you are led through a life of unnecessary stress and overwhelm, which will inevitably lead to burnout.
I know this first-hand because I burned out.
I found that doing the simple yet important things with transparency and accountability are the keys to succeeding in the execution of your unique plan.
You have the ability to lead your life instead of being led through it.
I am passionate about helping people like you.
I help busy business owners and professionals find time to design their ideal life..
If you are interested in my simple keys, download my free gift to you.
The Blueprint for Beating Burnout is a simple guide through what I think are the most important first steps in living a life filled with joy, peace, happiness, and freedom.
Click the link and I’ll send it right over.
Thanks for reading.