Try A Long Walk Without A Phone
Many of us are scared of being alone with our own thoughts. Our phones are our constant companion to eliminate all moments of solitude.
But self-reflection helps us to gain insight into our values, life, and how we want to live. So, go out and take a long walk to think, without the technology that can interrupt you.
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Research shows 70% of your happiness comes from quality relationships with your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.
Yet, the biggest factor that interferes with your relationships is your phone. The internet. Social media.
FOMO is the fear of missing out, especially the latest internet hysteria. But FOMO is not the real problem - Reverse FOMO is. By always being online, you are missing out on real life. An overwhelming online presence is replacing all the things that really make a good life.
Tech is only a tool. How you use it can make it good or not so good.
We don't need a lifehack to control our phone. We need values to ensure that technology serves us, and not the other way around.
Find out what you value in life. Then ask how technology supports those values. Set rules that work for them. If you don't, tech will fill that void by default.
Historically, when people had more leisure time, they used to engage in quality activities or community engagements like hobbies, or non-professional intellectual pursuits like poetry and novels.
What hobby might bring you more joy or pride? When you know the answer, it will be much easier to curb your tech use.
Becoming a digital minimalist makes you more invested in real-world conversations. Friendships are deeper than a social media comment on a baby picture.
Try your best not to socialize digitally anymore. Only use texting for logistics to arrange a get together where you do activities together. Play Monopoly or conquer a neighboring village.
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Most of the time we don’t second guess them, and even if we do, they often end up overwhelming us.
Negative feelings are very powerful and harder to question: we identify with them effortlessly. “I feel it, so it must be true” is often our default setting.
Listen to your thoughts — but don’t necessarily believe them.
They're suggestions, possibilities. But they’re not gospel. You can’t control what thoughts pop up, but you can decide what is helpful and choose not to give the unhelpful thoughts any more attention than they deserve.
Having a weak circle of friends carries the same risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
Researchers suggest that the core factors in a happy life are the number of friends, the closeness of friends, the closeness of family, and relationships with neighbors and co-workers.