You Should Not Get Away From Your Phone
No matter where you look at online, one of the most recommended action to do when it comes to self-improvement is to get away from you phone.
Our phones are connected to everything constantly and notifications appear all day long every single day.
Obviously this causes distraction and as it makes us stop in the middle of whatever we are doing and thus lose the concentration we obtained after much work.
So, yes, putting our phones away seems like a great idea doesn’t it?
I believe that it actually isn’t such a great idea. The main point is to learn to distance ourselves from the notifications themselves and make use of our phone the right way.
If phones are connected constantly to everything, they also allow us access to an incredible amount of resources. It would be a shame not to use those.
So here are 3 ways to make use of your phone efficiently:
1) Improve concentration
It goes against the first argument done above doesn’t it? Well the reason why it does is that it gives us a way a to fix the problem that many of us have troubles with: silence.
If you are used to silence and know how to be efficient in silence, you don’t need this.
But most of us need to have sounds around us to concentrate. Whether it be music or actual specific sounds, having your phone next to you providing you with the right type of noise.
In that sense, I would advise:
- Using YouTube's mix music “videos” (without actually moving videos in those)
- A “White Noise” app for Android
- Atmosphere which allows you to choose from a wide variety of noises both natural and more modern ones
- White Noise which creates random mixes of noises (such as wind, fire, water trickling down, rain, thunder, etc.) to create a natural environment to concentrate.
2) Have More resources
If you have spent enough time on the Play Store (or Apple store) looking for interesting apps to help you towards your goal, you will have certainly found a whole lot.
In such a case, turn off your notifications (whether forcing it with an app downloaded or through the settings in your phone), and use your phone capabilities to their fullest.
If you are studying a languages with a book, you can use a dictionary there, add flashcards directly in your deck, look for more examples on a learned word or expression, etc.
3) Your phone is your best resource when outside
Finally, in order to move towards your goals, you do not automatically need to set hours on end sitting at your desk. And just in the same way, being outside doesn’t mean you cannot work towards them.
Find apps that will allow you to be proactive and act even outside of your home, while in queue, in the toilet, or even having a smoke if you are a smoker.
For language-learning again, you could use flashcards apps, Duolingo, Memrise, read articles in your target language, exchange in your target language and so on.
If not handled well, your phone can be the main nuisance to any success. But if you learn to work with it, don’t push it away and appreciate all the opportunities it is bringing you!
It’s not because most people had to improve without phones in the past and are now advising to do the same that you should go backwards. So use the advantages technologies has brought us to the best of your abilities.
