2-3-4 Friday - why you can’t remember what you want to do after opening WhatsApp
‘Seeking to spark the most potential within you per word of any online newsletter’
1 thought
Ever experienced this?
You open WhatsApp, and you immediately forget what you wanted to do. You forget who you were trying to message.
If you watch
me using WhatsApp one day, you might find something strange.
I would use my palm to cover 5/6 of the screen, leaving only the top seen. I would then gingerly tap the compose sign, and then type out the message.
Or you might see me scribbling what I wanted to do on the inside of my hand, before tapping the screen.
You’d
probably think I’m crazy. Maybe.
Part of the reason is to seize back some semblance of control over how scattered my attention has now become because of technology.
We all know that.
But why don’t we action that?
Because frankly, if we are honest, we like being distracted. We like being validated by the likes that we get on Instagram. Or we like the
fact that people are messaging us. And we laugh at the memes people send to us.
But if we take a step back and look at the Screen Time report, you’d be startled to see the 4 hours and 3 minutes you’ve spent on the screen.
Isn’t that scary?
That today, we’d rather laugh at a screen, than smile at a human being? That we touch our phones more than we touch our partner? Or that we choose to watch Netflix
serials alone, over going to the cinemas to have a genuine laugh?
Look around you now, as you read this.
Maybe you’re on the train home, and you see people engrossed in their screens. Or you’re at work, and colleagues are stuck in their laptops.
Is this the kind of society that we want to continue living in?
1
talk
Until you realise that texting is not the same as talking, you will never realise what you lost.
1 tip
Don’t get me wrong. I’m no Luddite. I’m not telling you to dump your phone. But I’m just asking that we have a more mindful relationship with our technology.
Some Big Tech
firms like Facebook (now Meta), TikTok, are built around our engagement (a nice word for addiction).
3 ways:
- Start with looking at your screen time report and asking yourself what you think about it.
- Stop chatting through WhatsApp, ask for a real coffee instead.
- Go phone free for a day.
John
Live Young, Live Well - Work Your Love
Think others might benefit? I’m counting on you. Forward this on.