I've been somewhat hesitant to write an update of my previous blog post because, well, it seems that posting it would indicate I have failed my mission. But after over a week of trying to make some adjustments, there have been a number of things worthy of reflection.
The rules, or perhaps guidelines, I had set for myself were not particularly complicated, but for me some of them seemed like a stretch. Close the perpetual feeds like Facebook most of the day, use one browser window at a time; limit notifications of the far too many email accounts that I have and when I check them; leave the phone away in meetings, meals, and face-to-face conversations; and TV is not a white noise device.
I tackled the too-many-email accounts-and-notifications issue first. After work last Friday, I set to the task of changing all of the notifications in my phone. I turned all notification buzzing or sounds off. Not wanting to be completely oblivious, I did leave the blinky light option on for now. This is a process after all, right? As a bonus though, I attempted to eliminate one email address completely by unlinking all of my Google Drive files from one of my Gmail accounts.
The act of turning the buzzing off was far more freeing than I anticipated. Usually, when my phone buzzes, I immediately turn on the screen, view the email, decide whether to keep it or eliminate it, then turn off the screen. That sounded really efficient until I realized that the phone may buzz 30-40 times a day. A DAY! And each time, a distraction from whatever I was doing. Now, when my phone buzzes maybe twice a day, it's usually a phone call or something actually of value. The rest of my day enjoys its new found freedom from the buzzing.
The web browsing habits were not so instant gratifying, however. I immediately decided to close the multiple browsing windows and keep Facebook and Twitter closed while at work, but a funny thing happened. Although the screen was empty, the physical habits remained. As I attempted to read an essay for curriculum preparations this week, after about every paragraph, I would find myself instinctively glancing at my screen. EVERY PARAGRAPH?! That's a lot of interruptions for there being nothing to look at! After a week without multiple distractions on screen, I actually find that I am still doing this. These distracted habits run deep. But I am determined. More work on this to come.
Other deeply entrenched habits remain as well, but they are seeming easier to navigate. Once home from work, my phone screen is perpetually checked, just to make sure I didn't miss anything important. I still really want to do this, but I have found that the ever so simple solution of putting the phone away in it's case has pretty much solved this. I don't have the desire to check it if it's not out in front of me, tempting me to glance just one more time. I am pleased with this tiny glimpse into freedom. This same philosophy has kept my phone away at meetings, at meals, and in face-to-face conversations, and frankly, people have noticed. And that tells me that my distractions where not only distractions to me, but they were actually creating distractions for others around me. Wow. How clueless I truly was.
TV was also a simple fix. I've never really been that in love with television. I just don't find most of it entertaining. But sometimes I did think that it made a nice white noise machine, as if surly I could study better or be more productive with it on. Duh. No. Turing it off has allowed me to really focus again, letting my brain soak up words on a page or in my project rather than the babbling words from some redundant sitcom or sports announcer.
It came up in our book club in the last meeting we had that one reader wished that Nicholas Carr would have suggested a solution, a how-to guide to fixing all of our technology-distraction woes. And true, there was no 12 step program to follow tucked in the appendix of the book, but I don't think that means that Carr has not suggested the solutions we all know exist. The truth is, we all know that we can't escape the Internet world, lest we decide to become Amish or live on a deserted island somewhere. It's too big, too pervasive, too convenient, and too necessary to how we all now live. But we can control it. In the days of Google Now and Siri, services that claim to understand and really know you... In the days of notifications and multitasking and background noise and hyper-connectedness, we still have choices to make. We can choose to fall victim to it all, letting in envelope our lives, our days, our work, and our brains. Or we can choose to take control back, to put limits on our technology, to think clearly and uninterrupted, to be quiet and still, to find balance.
I really think that is the solution. That is the how-to guide. It doesn't look the same for all of us. Some are deeper in the tech trenches than others. Some are more addicted, committed, controlled than others. But we all can take a look around us, a good hard look, and choose what is really, honestly helping us and what is actually hurting us.
You won't find me in a bonnet and buggy anytime soon. I do not intend to ever become Amish or a cave dweller or disappear on some deserted island. I appreciate many of the good and wonderful things that internet technology has given me. But I do have full intentions of keeping my brain. My relationships. My love of adventure and fresh air and clear thoughts. I choose less multitasking. Less notifications. Less Pavlovian screen glancing. It's a process and a journey, and I am excited to continue on it quietly and undistractedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment