What a wonderful Sunday - to be at the present Moment
What a wonderful Sunday morning I had last weekend.
I had my morning walk with Ilona, an old lady poodle. The sun was shining and the calmnessn of the early morning made me feel happy and relaxed. I watched those few people passing by, saw some other dogowners at the end of a lead. First spring birds were singing fervently and the ground was glittering with ice.
I'm lucky to have my little dog to keep me away form the digital world at least these rare and valuable morning moments. On Sundays and on every day.
Still, it’s so easy to slip into the virtual world.
How about your last Sunday morning? Did you grab you mobile phone for the first thing in the morning? Even as you were lying in the bed? Did you share your morning table with your ipad instead of your children and spouse? Did you use tv as a babysitter already in the morning?
I’ve noticed that too many of us - including me and probably you, too - are addicted to modern digital products. Not figuratively, but literally addicted. If you scream now NO NO, NOT ME look at the mirrow. Even on Sunday the phone seems to be an extension of your arm. Always there, always in use.
Imagine yourself one day forgetting your mobile phone at home and driving at work. How are you feeling? Just a little uncomfortable? Frantic? Do you turn around at once and return at home to get your phone? Your emotions show the standing of digital devices in your life. Probably it’s too big.
A Gallup study conducted in 2015 showed that over 80 % of Americans keep their smartphones near them all day, many even while they sleep, and the majority check their phone at least a few times within every hour. The ubiquitous presence of smartphones in Americans’ (and us Europeana as well) is especially evident among younger people. Gallup study found out that one out of five of who admits to checking their phone do it every few minutes. How about you?
A study in Finland showed that last year 97% of young adults (under 34) spent every day some time in social media.
And these figures seem go be growing all the time.
Certainly the telephone and then radio and then television changed the way people relate to the world, and the smartphone, no doubt, is doing the same. All of the consequences of this brave new world in which individuals essentially stay in constant touch with the world through their handheld devices are certainly not known at this point, but are being studied with increasing frequency. Neuroscience and psychology are in forefront of this research.
There are estimates that at work people check their email 100 times and interrupt their attention every three minutes. Why is this not good? After every interruption it takes a while before you get going again. With very demanding tasks it takes even 10 minutes to get back to the work.
Today you can have a little exercise or test. Reserve a certain time slot for facebook and/or email. Otherwise let them be in peace even though you would have an urge to check what has come to your mailbox of if someone has liked your facebook update. Use 15 minutes or an hour for this.
Then start reading your emails. Give your attention to each mail. Think what the other has written and reply with a thought. Sense all your emotions before and while writing the message. Are you annoyed? Amused? Busy? Let the feelings come and go. Don’t write the message at once if you’re excited. Breath calmly. Write when you can see both the issue and your mindset from outside perspective.
As the time you have reserved for your emails has passed remain sitting for a moment and observe your feelings and emotions. Are you feeling different from your “normal” email reading mindset? When you’re done go back to your other tasks and enjoy the day!
It little exercise is in my book "Ole t?ss? hetkess?. Arjen l?sn?olon taito" (The art of being present in everyday life).
Why is it so easy to get addicted?
We are engineered in such a way that as long as an experience hits the right buttons, our brains will release the neurotransmitter dopamine. It makes us feel wonderful in the short term, though in the long term you build a tolerance and want more. Every time you receive a like on your Facebook update you get a shot of dopamine. And again, and again. After a while you’re addicted.
American social psychologist Adam Alter has written a book “Irresistible The Rise fo Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping us hooked” (no, I haven’t read it yet) in which he warns about the digital addiction. Mr Alter got the push to write the book when he learned that there is a school in Silicon Valley that doesn’t allow any tech - no iPhones or iPads.
The really interesting thing about this school is that 75 percent of the parents are tech executives. In the New York Times interview Alter also refers to the fact that late Steve Jobs had said that his own children didn’t use iPads. Dr. Alter, 36, is an associate professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Why is it not good for you to spend so much time with your smartphone, tablet or other digital equipment?
If you’re on the phone for three hours daily, that’s time you’re not spending on face-to-face interactions with people. You don’t teach your children new words or games. You don’t notice the beauty of the morning. Even if you feel smartphones give everything you need to enjoy the moment you’re in, it doesn’t require much initiative.
You never have to remember anything because everything is right in front of you. You don’t have to develop the ability to memorize or to come up with new ideas.
The term neuroplasticity means that our brain takes shape according to things we keep it busy with. Now we develop skills of handling large entities and jumping from one task to another. But at the same time we loose our ability to think deep an be at a present moment.
It’s not irrelevat how we use our time - and our brain!