Mindfulness

24 Things About Smartphones To Consider

Nov 17, 2018

I’m very curious about modern technology (specifically smartphones). How they can be utilized as a tool for good and evil, what smartphones do to the rewiring of our human brains, and so on. I purchased a book—honestly because the foreword was written by John Piper—and it’s answered a lot of the questions I’ve had circulating in my mind for years. It’s also given me practical steps to put in place so that I can better manage my time spent on my device. This glorious book (rich with research) is called:12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You. Here are the ways our phones are changing us:

We are addicted to distraction. We ignore our flesh and blood. We crave immediate approval. We lose our literacy. We feed on the produced. We become like what we “like.” We get lonely. We get comfortable in secret vices. We lose meaning. We fear missing out. We become harsh to one another. We lose our place in time. Here are the boundaries we can put in place:

Turn off all non-essential push notifications. Delete expired, non-essential, time-wasting apps. Keep our phones out of the bedroom at night. Use a real alarm clock, not a phone alarm, to keep our phones out of our hands in the morning. Guard our morning disciplines, and evening sleep patterns, by using phone settings to mute notifications between one hour before bedtime to a time when we can reasonably expect to be finished with personal disciplines in the morning. Use self-restricting apps to help limit our smartphone functions and the amount of time we invest in various platforms. Recognize that much of what we respond to can wait. Respond at a later, more convenient time. Even if we need to read emails on our smartphone, use strategic points during the day to respond to emails at a computer. Invite our spouses, friends, and family members to offer feedback on our phone habits. When eating with our family members or friends, leave our phones out of sight. When spending time with family members or friends, or when we are at church, leave our phone in a drawer or in our car, or simply power it off. At strategic moments in life, digitally detox our lives and re-calibrate our ultimate priorities. Step away from social media for frequent strategic stoppages.

Starting today, Paul and I are implementing these 12 boundaries and I’d love for you to join us! As time goes by, we will be checking our hearts by asking this simple question, Does my smartphone behavior move me toward God or away from God?

Nov 17, 2018 | Mindfulness