WEBVTT - One trick to make screen time more mindful

0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:06.680
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

0:00:09.280 --> 0:00:15.120
<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:19.680
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is about a small trip to make screen

0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:24.360
<v Speaker 1>time more mindful. By making it slightly harder to open

0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:27.840
<v Speaker 1>and log into your phone, you will probably stop yourself

0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:31.200
<v Speaker 1>a few more times than you might have, and that

0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:35.120
<v Speaker 1>can make it more possible to concentrate on everything else.

0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.320
<v Speaker 1>Today's tip, like another this week, comes from Amantha Ember's

0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:44.200
<v Speaker 1>new book time Wise. This book is all about smart

0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:47.400
<v Speaker 1>strategies to get more done while feeling better about it.

0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:52.600
<v Speaker 1>In the book, Amantha quotes entrepreneur Kevin Rose about how

0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.880
<v Speaker 1>to start picking up the phone less. Kevin Rose had

0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.760
<v Speaker 1>been feeling frustrated to find he was picking up his

0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:02.480
<v Speaker 1>own more than a hundred times a day, which is

0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:07.000
<v Speaker 1>not that unusual really, many people clock two pickups or more.

0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.360
<v Speaker 1>But he didn't like it, so he made one little tweak.

0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:16.040
<v Speaker 1>He put a rubber band around his phone. As he

0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.840
<v Speaker 1>told Amantha Ember, when you see that rubber band, it

0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.679
<v Speaker 1>just reminds you to pause for a second, and you

0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:25.560
<v Speaker 1>think to yourself, do I really need to pick up

0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:29.880
<v Speaker 1>and use my device right now? Oftentimes the answer is no.

0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:34.360
<v Speaker 1>I think he is onto something. A few years ago,

0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.200
<v Speaker 1>I cracked my phone pretty badly and it was a

0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:40.440
<v Speaker 1>little while before I could replace it. I wound up

0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:43.440
<v Speaker 1>putting my phone in a little plastic baggie so I

0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:46.400
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't lose the pieces of the glass. I could still

0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:48.880
<v Speaker 1>use it, but I had to open the baggy, and

0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:50.919
<v Speaker 1>then I had to be very careful that I didn't

0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:55.720
<v Speaker 1>slice my fingers. Needless to say, when checking my phone

0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:59.960
<v Speaker 1>required a lot of care, I became a lot more

0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:04.840
<v Speaker 1>careful about picking it up. It just wasn't worth it

0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.840
<v Speaker 1>to check social media for the third time in twenty

0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:11.960
<v Speaker 1>minutes because I was bored. A rubber band does something

0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.160
<v Speaker 1>very similar, albeit without the risk of cutting your finger.

0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:18.880
<v Speaker 1>If you put the band right across the phone, you

0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.000
<v Speaker 1>will probably have to pull it off in order to

0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.639
<v Speaker 1>log in, or even if the phone still registers your

0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.600
<v Speaker 1>face and logs you in without removing the rubber band,

0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.560
<v Speaker 1>you will still need to move the rubber band to

0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:36.079
<v Speaker 1>read anything, which makes the experience less immediately gratifying. The

0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:40.480
<v Speaker 1>rubber band doesn't stop you, It just slows you down,

0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:44.880
<v Speaker 1>and in that small space of time, you can ask

0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:47.200
<v Speaker 1>if this is actually what you mean to be doing

0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.520
<v Speaker 1>with your time, or if you'd like to be doing

0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.640
<v Speaker 1>something else. In Kevin Rose's case, he said that using

0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.320
<v Speaker 1>the rubber band reduced pickups from about a hundred a

0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.920
<v Speaker 1>day two more like thirty. That is a lot of

0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:04.840
<v Speaker 1>time freed up for other things. So if you are

0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:07.640
<v Speaker 1>feeling like you're picking up your phone more times than

0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:10.680
<v Speaker 1>you would like, do something to make it less convenient.

0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.600
<v Speaker 1>A rubber band works, or putting it in a baggy

0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.200
<v Speaker 1>or a zippered carrying case or anything along those lines.

0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.480
<v Speaker 1>You might even consider wearing a watch so you don't

0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:26.000
<v Speaker 1>need to look at your phone for the time. There

0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:30.440
<v Speaker 1>is absolutely nothing wrong with using a smartphone, but like

0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:35.880
<v Speaker 1>all things, it is best done mindfully. I would guess

0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.760
<v Speaker 1>that not all two pickups a day or so are

0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:43.680
<v Speaker 1>done with full intention. A rubber band or something similar

0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.920
<v Speaker 1>just ensure is a bit more mindfulness without a loss

0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.480
<v Speaker 1>of much time when you do really need to check

0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:57.880
<v Speaker 1>in the meantime. This is Laura, Thanks for listening, and

0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:08.240
<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:10.560
<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.240
<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:18.680
<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:23.680
<v Speaker 1>that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.040
<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at before Breakfast podcast.

0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:31.040
<v Speaker 1>At i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is

0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.800
<v Speaker 1>spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should

0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:41.880
<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.160
<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:49.120
<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:51.280
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.