Apple's Most Underrated Feature: The Off Button
Lindsey Boggs ??
VP Global Business Development @ DG Matrix | TEDx Speaker | 4X Salesforce Top Influencer
Take out your iPhone and move your hand to the top right and you’ll find a button. Hold it down for 5 seconds and slide your thumb to power off. How often do you perform that act?
For me, never. I only use that button to set my phone to idle to save the battery, I actually never turn my phone off. Even when I’m on the plane, I turn it to ‘airplane mode,’ and the second I land I immediately turn on WiFi so I can refresh my mailbox and see new notifications. I bet everyone reading this can relate. In fact, I bet half of the people reading this are on their smartphone.
I’m an Apple person, and I love Apple don’t get me wrong. From my MacBook computer, to my iPad, Apple TV and iPhone, I’m connected. A little too connected some may argue. Everything is synced together and notifications are consistently distracting even though I’ve hidden about 90% of the notifications.
As embarrassing as it is to say, my phone is the last thing I check before I go to bed at night, and the first thing I check when I wake up in the morning. It’s an awful habit and one that I realized I needed to break when I downloaded an app called Moment, which showed me exactly how long I’m on my phone each day. It was shocking.
The last two weeks I tried an experiment…one that I’ve reflected on a bit and wanted to share in hopes you consider trying it too if you feel like you’re addicted to your phone.
I turned my phone off every day for hours at a time. Groundbreaking, right? No.
It seems simple, but let me tell you, it’s not. The first couple days I did it I was anxious about what I was missing. I turned off my email notifications on my computer as well so I could focus. Really focus.
At first, I started turning it off from 9-11a, and then 2-3p. In those 3 hours of completely focusing on my tasks, I probably got more done than I normally would in an entire day. And guess what happened when I turned my phone back on? Nothing. I missed nothing.
Simple things like checking Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, the news, text messages, and Twitter constantly add up. I felt like I was producing, but I wanted more out of my day. I took it a step further and made a rule to physically place my phone in my bedroom the moment I get home and not get it until 8pm, freeing up another 2 hours in my day.
My family told me I’ve never been more present these past two weeks and instead of documenting events in my life with pictures, I was participating in the events.
If you find yourself on your phone constantly and feel you are addicted like I was, try this experiment. Start small and eventually you’ll find a happy medium where you can participate on your phone, but be more present and focused in your life and career.
Senior Recruitment Manager-Educational Services at Aequor
6 年This article about the addictive nature of our smart phones and other devices, was a nice thing to read today. I am still addicted...but occasionally I have gotten better at this. Not sure how I will approach this, but I won't keep you posted (because hopefully I will be off the phone) =)?
Power Systems Sales at Milton CAT
7 年Nice!
Living the dream near the mountains of Colorado
7 年I can relate, we have a standing house rule, no smartphones at meal times. Of course this assumes the family is actually eating together. On occasion. I may make a quick trip to the store and forget my phone. I purposely do not U-turn to go get it. Check it out "nomoohobia" is being proposed as a real condition. ~Doug
Managing Director | B2B Digital Marketing Leader | Demand Gen | Social Media
8 年I actually ended up with an Apple Watch for this reason - while I hated adding an additional gadget into my life, it has allowed me to be available for critical calls (in my world that's daycare issues) while freeing up brain power outside of texts/notifications and random calls. At work, during my commute, at home, it's given me the security to be available for urgent issues but has allowed me to be more present in day-to-day activities.
Sales Executive | Accessibility & Inclusion Advocate | Customer Experience Advisor | Business Messaging Enabler
8 年Hello Lindsey, great article! I've adopted a similar behavior with my phone when I'm working: I turn off data and WIFI so I only get calls of SMS which is 1% of the distraction. I leave my phone on my desk when I go to meetings, etc... I turn data at lunch time and switch back off again. When I get home I leave my phone in my bedroom to enjoy the rest of the day. We desperate need to spend more time with friends and like you said: living the moment instead of documenting it.