The days are slowly and surely getting longer. We are in the heart of winter and I find that I love this time of year. It is time to Hygge! Life, if you choose, is filled with cozy nights, candles, cold air, skiing, walking, night skies, local cafes, good coffee, reading, movie watching, friends and family. The dark and cold are reminders to rest, to quiet your mind and to slow your pace. You will notice that my phone has no place in these descriptions. It is around for use as a tool. I am not always really good at this, but when I am I have so much more time and energy. I am also so much happier because I feel less fragmented.
I am convinced that much of our frazzled and anxious living has an element that is self-created. We allow our phones to suck our time and our energy. We just have to check this social, that news (ack, the news!), email and youtube and… This confuses our brains into thinking that we are accomplishing something and it drains us. It divides our attention and doesn’t allow for deep thought. Consequently, we have become prone to confuse busyness for business which leaves most of us feeling exhausted and rather empty.
The exciting reality to me is that we have a choice. We can delve into the real experiences of life and not get caught up in fake productivity, shallow connections and other people’s drama. We can decide what deserves our time, energy and attention!
A good place to start this shift away from phones and into real life is to notice where and how you get hooked. Notice how you feel after spending time on your screen. Were you making conscious choices as to what you were giving your attention to? Was it worth your time and energy? What didn’t you do because you were on your phone? Are you splitting your attention and distracted because of your phone? Good questions to ask in order to reclaim your time!
If you are on your phone less you will find you have time to: get together with friends and family, excercise, eat good food, play in the snow, read a book, live for realsies! Your brain will thank you! -and so will your children, your partner and/or your dog.
