<ul><li>Whether you are using it or not,<b> be aware</b> of how much of your conscious thoughts are occupied by your devices.</li><li><b>Take </b>your <b>devices out of your sight</b> and keep it so while you need to be productive.</li><li><b>Take notes by hand</b> if possible. Studies show that writing by hand increases learning.</li><li><b>Don’t give up. </b>Reducing the use of devices is hard and takes time.</li></ul>

Minimizing The Brain Drain Caused By Your Devices

<p>Phones take over many duties in our day-to-day lives and so they occupy portions of our attentional capacity.</p><p>Studies indicate that regular <b>phone </b>and computer users that <b>physically get away</b> from devices, theirs or not, <b>have an increase in available cognitive capacity</b> and that doing so is the best way to make sure you won’t have anxiety over whatever you might be missing on it.</p>

Phones And The Human Brain

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<p>Image </p>
<img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/12/03/autossell/03sl_newsletter/merlin_147541794_5bf54deb-508c-42d0-85e9-30a05a3a0154-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale">
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<figcaption>Credit Pete Gamlen </figcaption></figure> </div>
<p>The biggest roadblock to your productivity is the smartphone on your desk.</p>
<div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/tim-herrera"><img src="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/12/07/multimedia/author-tim-herrera/author-tim-herrera-thumbLarge.png"></a> </div> 
<em>Welcome to the Smarter Living newsletter! Every Monday, S.L. editor </em><a href="https://twitter.com/timherrera"><em>Tim Herrera</em></a><em> emails readers with tips and advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. </em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/smarter-living?module=inline"><em>Sign up here</em></a><em> to get it in your inbox. </em> <p>As I type this, my iPhone is tucked away inside my desk drawer under lock and key. It's been there all day, completely out of sight. I'm slightly anxious about the notifications I might be missing, but only slightly; it's a manageable level that's not distracting.</p>
<p>Yes, it's a little extreme to lock your phone in a drawer. But I've learned that it's the only way I can truly focus and be as productive as I want to be. And unfortunately, the same is true for you, even if you don't realize it - or want to believe it. (Airplane mode, sadly, won't help - more on that later.)</p>
<p><a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/691462">A 2017 study</a> in The Journal of the Association of Consumer Research found that the mere presence of your phone - even if it's powered off, and even if you're actively and successfully ignoring it - "reduces available cognitive capacity," which the study's authors call "brain drain."</p> 
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<p>Worse still: The more you depend on your phone, the more your cognitive abilities suffer when it's around.</p>
<p>"If it's in the environment, it's almost like it's calling out to us," said Adrian Ward, assistant professor in the marketing department at the University of Texas at Austin. "We're automatically drawn to it."</p>
<p>He went on: "And so now the problem becomes not to figure out what to pay attention to, but resisting that automatic pull. You actually have to devote some of your cognitive resources to resisting," he said.</p>
<p>Because phones have taken over so many duties in our day-to-day lives - scheduling, shopping, acting as alarm clocks, holding lists, almost all communication, etc. - they occupy outsize portions of our overall attentional capacity, Mr. Ward said.</p>
<p>"Adoption has really outpaced understanding," he said. Gadgets were "these shiny cool things we want to play with, and then before we knew it they infiltrated every square inch of our lives."</p> 
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<div><em>[Like what you're reading? </em><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/smarter-living?module=inline"><em>Sign up here</em></a><em> for the Smarter Living newsletter to get stories like this (and much more!) delivered straight to your inbox every Monday morning.]</em> <p>If this all sounds familiar, you might remember a handful of studies last year - highlighted in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/business/laptops-not-during-lecture-or-meeting.html?module=inline">this hugely popular story</a> - that looked at how laptops affect the performance of students in lectures. Unexpectedly, the studies almost universally found that performance and information retention and absorption suffer when students have a laptop nearby during lectures.</p>
<p>More surprising, however, is that one study found that students who didn't even have a laptop were negatively affected simply by being in the presence of someone else's laptop.</p>
<p>Put another way: The moment a device enters your general proximity, even if it's not yours, your cognitive performance starts to decline.</p>
<p>Yep. Life is unfair.</p>
<p>So what are we slaves to technology supposed to do with this? Throw our phones, laptops and tablets out the window? Sure! That is a great option and I wholeheartedly support you in this.</p>
<p>But if you'd rather not toss a few thousand dollars' worth of tech in the garbage, there are some slightly less extreme things you can do to minimize the brain drain caused by your devices.</p>
<p>The first step toward recovery, Mr. Ward advised, is simply being aware of how much of your conscious thoughts are occupied by your phone, whether you're directly using it or just aware that it is in your vicinity. Knowing is half the battle.</p> 
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<p>Practically, however, getting it out of sight - remember my locked desk drawer? - is probably the most effective and reasonable technique. (The better solution is to leave it in separate room, but we all know you're not going to do that.)</p>
<p>If you do manage to tuck it away out of sight, commit and don't sneak looks. There are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405896315004838">mountains</a> of <a href="https://qz.com/722661/neuroscientists-say-multitasking-literally-drains-the-energy-reserves-of-your-brain/">research</a> that show intermittent distractions, like your phone chirping at you with a notification, can have enormous detrimental effects on your productivity. <a href="https://www.inc.com/laura-montini/infographic/the-high-cost-of-multitasking.html">One study</a> found that it can take up to half an hour to resume a task after being interrupted.</p>
<p>When it comes to meetings - of which <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/business/four-ways-to-be-more-effective-in-meetings.html?module=inline">I am no fan</a> - laptops and phones are surefire ways to make them even less effective. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/business/laptops-not-during-lecture-or-meeting.html?module=inline">Studies have shown</a> that people who use a laptop during things like lectures and meetings can be so distracted that it's almost as if they aren't present at all. <a href="https://team.skift.com/the-logic-behind-skifts-laptop-ban-in-meetings-10959c2c5848">Some</a> companies have even instituted laptop bans during meetings.</p>
<p>If you're able to, leave your laptop (and maybe your phone?) at your desk. Not only will this make you actually pay attention, but it has the added bonus of increasing the likelihood you'll actually get something out of a given meeting: <a href="https://cpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.udel.edu/dist/6/132/files/2010/11/Psychological-Science-2014-Mueller-0956797614524581-1u0h0yu.pdf">A 2014 study</a> found that taking notes on a laptop, rather than writing them out longhand, impairs "learning because their use results in shallower processing," adding that "laptop note takers' tendency to transcribe lectures verbatim rather than processing information and reframing it in their own words is detrimental to learning."</p>
<p>Still, it's not easy to abandon the pieces of technology we've built our lives around. If you're trying and failing to leave your phone in the drawer, don't worry. Just keep trying. Even the most knowledgeable of us have trouble with it.</p>
<p>"It's a struggle," Mr. Ward said. "My fianc&#233;e has to knock my phone out of my hands more often than I'd like."</p>
<p>How do you manage to stay off your phone during the workday? Tell me on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/timherrera">@timherrera</a>.</p>
<p>Have a great week!</p>
<p>- Tim</p> 
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<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/smarter-living/pet-safety-holidays.html">How to Keep Your Pets Safe During the Holidays </a>While the holidays can leave you with a warm, fuzzy glow, they add a lot of things to the daily mix of your life that might not be good for your pets.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/25/smarter-living/4-ways-to-stay-motivated-when-youre-in-a-rut.html">4 Ways to Stay Motivated When You're in a Rut</a> Beat that post-Thanksgiving daze.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/23/travel/five-things-to-bring-on-every-long-flight.html">5 Things to Bring on Every Long Flight</a> Keep yourself sane, snug and distracted while you fly through the air with the greatest of ease.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/guides/gifts/2018-holiday-gift-guide">2018 Holiday Gift Guide</a> Practical or luxe, quirky or classic, these gifts will send just the right message to the people you are oh-so grateful for this year.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/style/relationship-secret-family.html">We Can't Hide This Relationship Forever</a> A reader remains a secret to her boyfriend's disapproving parents after two years of dating. Can their clandestine love work out long-term?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/books/review/shaughnessy-bishop-stall-hungover.html">The Morning After: One Man's Quest for a Hangover Cure </a>If hangovers didn't exist, what percentage of your life would you spend drunk?</p>
<em>This week I've invited the writer </em><a href="https://twitter.com/CRLamothe"><em>Cindy Lamothe</em></a><em> to teach us how to write holiday cards that won't get tossed in the trash.</em> <p>I've always been a holiday-card pack rat. Up until last year I had accumulated what amounted to basically a book of these delightful (and nostalgic) mementos that spanned the length of my childhood. From the casual message to the long-winded card, I collected them all. After making the decision to declutter, however, I sorted each according to their present value.</p> 
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<p>So what makes a card worth keeping?</p>
<p>In this pack rat's humble opinion, the most enduring cards are the ones that can represent an enduring connection - words that cut through the day-to-day noise.</p>
<p>So when you're writing yours this year, try to focus on these four qualities: encouragement, humor, nostalgia and earnestness.</p>
<p>For example: One of my most treasured cards was written nearly 20 years ago by a loved one who encouraged me to keep writing despite obstacles. Another of my favorite cards contains a short, funny anecdote from a friend about our childhood (mis)adventures. More than fancy designs, what makes these stand out among the rest is they continue to hold meaning long after they were sent.</p>
<p>Skip the platitudes and instead write about a favorite memory that shows the recipient why they matter to you. Be sincere. Inject yourself into the card with a favorite quote or bit of humor. Lean into the earnestness of it all.</p>
<p>Holiday cards don't have to be generic greetings meant to be discarded. Evoke meaning with your words and they can last a lifetime. (Or at least longer than a Christmas tree.)</p> 
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<p>Tim Herrera is the founding editor of Smarter Living, where he edits and reports stories about living a better, more fulfilling life. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Washington Post. <a href="https://twitter.com/timherrera">@timherrera</a> * <a href="https://www.facebook.com/heyitstimherrera">Facebook</a> </p> 
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<p>A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: Hide Your Phone When You're Working. Seriously.. <a href="http://www.nytreprints.com/">Order Reprints</a> | <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html">Today's Paper</a> | <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY">Subscribe</a> </p>
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The biggest roadblock to your productivity is the smartphone on your desk. Welcome to the Smarter Living newsletter! Every Monday, S.L. editor Tim Herrera emails readers with tips and advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.

Hide Your Phone When You're Trying to Work. Seriously.

Minimizing The Brain Drain Caused By Your Devices

Phones And The Human Brain

Jasper Y.'s ideas are part of this journey:

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