I was recently relaying to my husband how I don’t always like taking my phone with me when I go outside since having my phone nearby takes me out of the present moment. He agreed but also pointed out that if I removed some of the apps on my phone, then I wouldn’t see my phone as a portal to the world as much.
So I deleted Facebook and Messenger, along with a couple others. I went back and forth for a couple of weeks downloading Messenger when I needed to message someone and then deleting it because I didn’t want the temptation of checking it regularly. After this dance, I realized that my attitude to Messenger was very similar to my approach to other distractions: I wanted to block them out COMPLETELY so they wouldn’t threaten my focus.
And then I thought about how mindfulness meditation trains a person to NOTICE the thoughts in their mind WITHOUT getting swept up in them. And I figured that keeping my Messenger app and NOT giving into the urge to check it would be a great way to practice this sort of self-control over my thoughts.
It’s been a few weeks now, and I am still going back and forth with regards to having the Messenger app on my phone. But all this time, I have not had my Facebook app, and I feel that it helps me to not constantly go on Facebook to read the news feed when I am bored. I feel less inundated with the lives of others and more able to focus on my own life.
I appreciate my husband’s insights for how I can be more mindful of how I use my smartphone.
Mindful Nuggets 