WEBVTT - Make your phone less interesting

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to make your phone less interesting. Many

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<v Speaker 1>of us spend big chunks of our days staring at

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<v Speaker 1>our smartphones. I'm not saying that time is all wasted.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean you're listening to this, and maybe you're doing

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<v Speaker 1>amazing other things on your phone, like reading More and

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<v Speaker 1>Peace on the kindle lapp, or sending brilliant emails that

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<v Speaker 1>convince a client to order years more of work, or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe you're learning another language so you can go volunteer

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<v Speaker 1>in a disaster zone. But I'm guessing a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>the time is not so profound. We wind up reading

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<v Speaker 1>articles with clickbait headlines and looking at photos on Instagram

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<v Speaker 1>of someone else's dessert. We do this because we're bored.

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<v Speaker 1>We do it because it's easy, and it's totally fine

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<v Speaker 1>to have some mindless downtime, but maybe five hours a day. So,

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<v Speaker 1>given that few of us magically developed more willpower, how

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<v Speaker 1>can we limit the phone checking habit so we can

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<v Speaker 1>free up time Before Breakfast listener named Abby recently wrote

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<v Speaker 1>in with a great suggestion about what worked for her.

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<v Speaker 1>Abby runs her own business and has a two year

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<v Speaker 1>old daughter. When the little girl was born, Abby writes

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<v Speaker 1>that she got in the habit of spending a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of time on her phone because she was looking at

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<v Speaker 1>it while holding the girl or rocking her. But after

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<v Speaker 1>she got out of the hold meal the time stage,

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<v Speaker 1>I found myself still addicted. Abby writes, I tried a

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<v Speaker 1>few methods to stay off my phone, but I was

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<v Speaker 1>always thinking about it. She writes that she knows that's ridiculous,

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<v Speaker 1>but anyone who's checked to make sure she's still got

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<v Speaker 1>her phone on her on the way to the bathroom

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<v Speaker 1>knows exactly what Abby is talking about. Anyway, she says,

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<v Speaker 1>the best solution I found was to make my phone

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<v Speaker 1>less interesting. Here's how she did it. I unfollowed all

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<v Speaker 1>celebrity and blogger account that I followed. I realized that

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't need to know what was happening in their

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<v Speaker 1>everyday lives. Also, the comparison game with these accounts is

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<v Speaker 1>unfair to do to ourselves. It turns out that when

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<v Speaker 1>people pay photographers to follow them around all day, their

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<v Speaker 1>lives feature gorgeous outfits and zero dirty dishes. Not exactly realistic,

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<v Speaker 1>as for non celebrities. Here's what Abby writes. I also

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<v Speaker 1>muted my casual friends on Instagrams, such as old college acquaintances.

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't want to unfriend them completely because I want

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<v Speaker 1>to know what they're up to every once in a while,

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<v Speaker 1>but I don't need daily updates. Instead, I can search

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<v Speaker 1>for them if I happen to think of them. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>I muted all Instagram stories. I found that with the

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<v Speaker 1>increased use of Instagram Stories, most people use their feed

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<v Speaker 1>for major life updates. Now, when I opened Instagram, I

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<v Speaker 1>see family updates and vacation photos, not what other people

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<v Speaker 1>are eating for lunch. I was wasting so much of

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<v Speaker 1>my time looking at what other people were doing, and

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<v Speaker 1>now I spend more time living my life. I haven't

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<v Speaker 1>gone so far as to mute Instagram Stories, but I

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<v Speaker 1>do think Abby is onto something with her decision to

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<v Speaker 1>make her phone boring. When I give speeches or do workshops,

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<v Speaker 1>people often ask me which productivity apps I use? Which

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<v Speaker 1>apps do I recommend to help people get more done.

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<v Speaker 1>I know there are some truly wonderful ones out there,

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<v Speaker 1>but here's the problem. Putting apps on our phones makes

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<v Speaker 1>our phones more interesting. When our phones are more interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>We check our phones more often, but how many of

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<v Speaker 1>us just look at the productivity app and then turn

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<v Speaker 1>the phone off when we're done. I'd wager that most

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<v Speaker 1>people look at the productivity app and then click over

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<v Speaker 1>to Twitter. Just like that, another twenty minutes disappears down

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<v Speaker 1>the drain. Any time saved by the app is immediately consumed.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why I use a paper planner. I actually use

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<v Speaker 1>a pay per calendar too, though I know most people

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<v Speaker 1>in larger organizations can't do that. But anyway, if you

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<v Speaker 1>find yourself thinking like Abby that you're spending too much

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<v Speaker 1>time on your phone, see what you can do to

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<v Speaker 1>make it boring. Maybe you could unfollow a few accounts.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe you could remove a game that you keep saying

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<v Speaker 1>you want to spend less time playing. You can always

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<v Speaker 1>reinstall it if you're stuck with a lot of time

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<v Speaker 1>you need to fill, but that extra bit of time

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<v Speaker 1>required might make you pause. Or maybe you uninstall some

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<v Speaker 1>social media apps and decide to check them only on

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<v Speaker 1>your laptop. You're not cutting yourself off from them and

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<v Speaker 1>the connections they can help make. You're just limiting the

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<v Speaker 1>circumstances in which it's possible to check when your phone

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<v Speaker 1>seems boring, life starts to seem more interesting. You remember

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<v Speaker 1>that calling a friend is more satisfying than looking at

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<v Speaker 1>some celebrities. Third outfit of the day. So what will

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<v Speaker 1>you do today to make your phone a little less interesting?

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear what you try and like. Abby.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have a time management strategy that's helped you,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to share that with other Before Breakfast listeners.

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<v Speaker 1>We can all help each other out. You can email

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<v Speaker 1>me at Before Breakfast podcast at I heart media dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>That's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at I heart media dot com. That Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app Apple

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<v Speaker 1>podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Yea.