To make my plan more concrete, I’ve done these:
- My phone is in Do-Not-Disturb mode the moment I get home.
- Use the downtime feature which blocks all apps with exceptions. The visual cue helps to remember my goal of regaining focus.
- I don’t take phone with me when I walk to Lizzy to school in the morning. In addition to enjoying our chat on the way, I also enjoy blank mind when I walk back alone, observing the surroundings.
- I have audited my youtube subscription down to 10. I want actively choosing what I consume, not what is pushed to me. Same applies to podcasts, less to 5 subscriptions now.
- I don’t take my phone or keep it in my bag when going to meetings. I take notes, if needed, in a physical notebook.
Changes I am noticing:
- I feel calm when I meditate in the morning. My thoughts are less jumpy.
- Monkey mind happens less frequently when I avoid multi-tasking.
- I start noticing more my surroundings. I notice new houses, new plants, new cats on my walks.
- I start picking things up while waiting (boiling water, cooking, washing things) instead of checking my phones.
- I have more patience when reading.
I don’t get to implement them 100% of the time but I try to. Hopefully these become easier the more and longer I practice them.
Q: Do you have any practice to preserve your focus or to keep a calm mind?
Our New Journey 
I need to take some more action in this area. My focus has been really bad lately! Just lots of different reasons for it I think – I tend to feel especially unfocused when I feel like my life is “chaotic” in any way, and lately with school, my mother-in-law here, trying to make several decisions etc I feel like my brain is all over the place. In those times I then find myself grabbing for my phone for “comfort” I guess way too often. I have felt just all around distracted. I have been putting my phone on do not disturb for deeper work blocks which helps me a lot to signal to myself, ok, this is not time to check something or look something up or whatever. Doing only one thing at a time (at least for some of the day!) does feel a lot better.
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Such good changes, Coco! I have taken to NOT taking out my phone when I’m in line or waiting somewhere. Instead, I just look around me and mentally make notes about my surroundings. I swear it’s so helpful for focus.
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All great ideas. I think most of us don’t even realize how our phones have taken over our lives. I’m pretty good at not using my phone when I’m at home, but I am a podcast maniac- I listen to them while walking, running, working out, driving… so I guess I’m kind of addicted to have someone chattering in my ear during those times.
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I thought I left a few thoughts but I obviously didn’t- see, I AM distracted.
I love the changes you implemented. After deleting Feedly off my phone, I started reading blogs on my laptop and commenting right then and there so that it’s less overwhelming and feels more meaningful. I stopped bringing my phone everywhere with me in the house, instead, I leave it in the caddy in the kitchen. There is a feeling f freedom when you don’t have your phone with you…
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Those are some good changes. I should try to implement some of them myself. I try to put the phone away in the evenings more but it’s a challenge .
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Being off social media was the best way to improve my focus. I did a lot of mindless scrolling when I had downtime. Now if I have downtime I will use my kindle ap to read when I have downtime.
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These are great changes! I am glad you’re already feeling a clearer mind. The morning phone-free walk home is a great idea. I spent a year without a smart phone and can definitely feel my mind becoming way more jumpy now that I have one again, and I’ve been thinking of how I’m going to deal with my jumpy brain and current balance/unbalance phone use, so I’m keen to follow your journey here. I’m always afraid that my husband will call or the nanny will call in the 5 minutes I don’t have my phone (if I do a morning walk)…. but also that seems silly when I write it down.
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