Considering what I do for a living, you’d think that I was a master of handling distractions.
And, I thought I was… until I read about the Screen Time app on my iPhone. As I looked through the app I was stunned:
…The number of times I picked up my phone per hour glared at me.
…The hours and minutes I wasted on social media shocked me.
I had big goals to complete in 2018 and spending time on my phone wasn’t one of them. So, I went into the app and set a time limit of 15 minutes per day.
As you know, I am a big fan of using my phone as a timer so I can complete my Daily Deltas. But then I heard about this study.The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin found that cognitive capacity is significantly reduced when your smartphone is within reach — even if it’s off. The researchers found that participants who had their phones in another room significantly outperformed those with their phones on the desk in front of them. Also, these same individuals slightly outperformed those participants who had kept their phones in a pocket or bag.
So, I started putting my phone in another room with the alarm volume on HIGH.
I set out to achieve the following goal: one month of just 15 minutes per day on my phone (outside of phone calls) and keeping physical distance from my phone.
In this case, distance did NOT make my heart grow fonder. Instead, it made me a whole lot more productive.
A month later, I was down five pounds, brought on three more Fortune 50 clients, and was half way done writing my book. I used that extra time to take a few walks during the day and write a few more chapters in my book. I also spoke at events, which lead to new clients.
Here are some tips…
Choose your distractions.
1. Use the Screen Time functionality to prevent or monitor mindless usage; and
2. Create some distance between you and your phone, choosing when you use it.
To join a community of high performers and receive more tips, sign up for my newsletter.
Want more support? Reach out for a FREE 30-minute coaching call. Feel like you or your organization help increasing productivity and resilience in your employees? I work with both 1:1 and corporate clients to help increase performance and wellbeing through my proven Performance-Based Mindfulness methodology.