1 00:00:04,519 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: One easy way to put down your smartphone. I'm Rich Demiro. 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: This is Rich on Tech Daily. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 2: I know the irony of a podcast telling you to 4 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 2: put down your phone, but here's the deal. We all 5 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 2: understand that we love our phones, but sometimes they can 6 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 2: be a bit much. And if you already know how 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 2: to manage your phone and put it down and not 8 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 2: look at it for a long period of time and 9 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,080 Speaker 2: not really care, then congrats. 10 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: But for the rest of us, it is really tough. 11 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 2: We love our notifications, we love checking social media. 12 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 1: We just want to overall be on our phone. 13 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 2: Look no further than any line anywhere, Like when you're 14 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 2: at Starbucks. Just look at every person just kind of 15 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,400 Speaker 2: looking down at their phone, not really interacting with each other. 16 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 2: It's a scene that we see over and over. Recently, 17 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 2: we visited the milk in community schools and we talked 18 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 2: to a bunch of teenagers on the National Day of Unplugging, 19 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 2: which was last week, and a bunch of them told 20 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 2: us that they can't get off their phones. In fact, 21 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 2: some of them leave their phones on while they sleep. Yes, 22 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 2: notifications going off all night long, but what are they 23 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 2: doing on their phones? Snapchat, Instagram, texting, social media, talking 24 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 2: to their friends, basically a lot of the same stuff 25 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,240 Speaker 2: that adults do on their phones. And we talked to 26 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 2: this woman, Kim Annenberg Cavallo. She created a new app 27 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 2: called Lil Space, and basically she said that, you know what, 28 00:01:17,240 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 2: I realized that I was on my phone just as 29 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 2: much as everyone else out there, and I wanted to 30 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 2: figure out what can I do to get people off 31 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 2: of their phones. And she came up with this app 32 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 2: called Lil Space, And what it does is it's kind 33 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 2: of like a timer and it urges you to disconnect. 34 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: But your disconnection is tied to a cause. 35 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:37,639 Speaker 2: So maybe the longer that you are off your phone, 36 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 2: the more that some business they basically partner with businesses 37 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 2: to donate stuff or maybe give you some sort of 38 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 2: reward like a dessert at dinner. 39 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: Whatever it is. 40 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 2: But really she wanted to find ways to motivate people 41 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 2: to get a little space, as she said it, So 42 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 2: the app encourages you to put your phone away during dinner, workouts, 43 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 2: quality time with your kids, all that good stuff. There's 44 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 2: an interesting thing that happens when we put down our phones. 45 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 2: According to the counselor at this Whitney Fish, she said 46 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 2: there's a constant fear, a constant anxiety of what if 47 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 2: something happens and I need my phone? 48 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: And for adults, that could be maybe you want to 49 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: take a picture when I'm on a hike. 50 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 2: You know, I don't necessarily need my phone, but I 51 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 2: sometimes want to take a picture. Or if you're out 52 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: and about, you think, well, what if someone needs to 53 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 2: get in touch with me? What if I get an 54 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 2: email from work that's really important. All these things that 55 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 2: we kind of put in our mind that don't necessarily matter, 56 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 2: but sometimes they do. Now that same counselor told us 57 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 2: that parents are often telling their kids to disconnect, but 58 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 2: there's something that parents don't realize. It's not going to 59 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 2: work if you're constantly on the phone. So you kind 60 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 2: of have to be a role model and set your 61 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 2: own boundaries. And I see this in my house. You know, 62 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 2: I tell my kids I don't want them on their 63 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 2: iPad or watching TV. 64 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: And what am I on doing? What am I doing? 65 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 2: I'm sneaking away to check my phone every couple of minutes. 66 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:46,519 Speaker 2: Bottom line, how do we put down our phones? Well, 67 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:48,880 Speaker 2: I thought the creator of this app and Cavallo, had a. 68 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 1: Really good solution. Some really good insight. She said this. 69 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 2: She said, to find some activities that make you forget 70 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 2: about your phone in the first place. So if you 71 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 2: have something that you're already in interested in and your 72 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 2: phone is kind of interrupting that, take those opportunities to 73 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 2: start unplugging just. 74 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: A little bit every day. And I thought this was brilliant. 75 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:11,519 Speaker 2: It's not something that's totally mind boggling that we've never 76 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 2: thought of before. But when you really hear it put 77 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 2: like that, you realize, Yeah, let me find those activities that. 78 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: Make me forget about my phone. 79 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 2: Maybe I go for a run for forty five minutes, 80 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 2: maybe I go for a swim, maybe a. 81 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: Hike, whatever it is. 82 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 2: Find those activities where your phone becomes secondary, and then 83 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 2: you'll sort of forget about it. In fact, this is 84 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 2: how Cavallo came up with the idea for a little space. 85 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: She started taking a spin. 86 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 2: Class and realized that she wasn't thinking about her phone 87 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:38,000 Speaker 2: during that forty five minute class. I love this advice, 88 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 2: but I do find there is one tiny flaw in 89 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 2: this whole thing of finding an activity that's bigger than 90 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 2: your phone, and that's the camera on our phone. Because 91 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 2: what keeps us coming back to our phone. What makes 92 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 2: us carry our phone during an activity that's really fun? 93 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 2: We want to take pictures, and I think that's the 94 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 2: problem is that our phone and our camera are now 95 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 2: linked together and you can't ditch one without ditching the other. 96 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 2: So other than wearing a smart watch with cellular, which 97 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,760 Speaker 2: gets kind of expensive, or taking along a separate camera, 98 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 2: which is kind of unrealistic these days, that's the problem 99 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 2: I find is that, Yeah, I can go on a 100 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 2: hike with my entire family and not really care about 101 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 2: my phone, but I want to take pictures during that hike. 102 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: And then what do I end up doing. 103 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 2: I end up taking a picture and then I kind 104 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 2: of sneak a look at my notifications. 105 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:23,560 Speaker 1: So my bottom line, if. 106 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 2: You want to get off your phone, get into something 107 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 2: that's more exciting than what's on screen, that's gonna do it. 108 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 2: For this episode, thanks so much for listening. I'm Richdemiro 109 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:33,920 Speaker 2: rich on tech dot tv. For links to everything I 110 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 2: mentioned here, and don't forget you can now add this 111 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 2: daily update to your Alexa flash briefing. So just go 112 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 2: into the Alexa app, search Rich on tech and add 113 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 2: it in so you can hear this every single day. 114 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: I do appreciate you guys listening. I'm rich Demiro. Talk 115 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:47,600 Speaker 1: to you real soon.