Dan Counsell
Sep 14, 2015
Late last year, I was inspired to try and get back some focus and clarity in my life. So I wrote an article called Removing distractions.It's now six months on, and my life has changed because of it, but I have a confession to make.
I fell back into bad habits.
After around 4 months, Twitter found its way back onto my iPhone. It stayed on my phone all through May, June, and July. It's crazy how easily I just fell back into it.
Once Twitter was back on my phone, the usage started to creep back up. I started checking in more frequently. I got that feeling that I might be missing out if I didn't just check-in. In part, this was what prompted me to write this follow-up article. Use it as something to get me back on track. This week, Twitter is no longer on my phone (again). Hopefully, I can keep it that way.
Even though I had a slight relapse with Twitter, the last six months have seen a lot of positive changes. I definitely use my phone less. I'm more present and more productive because of it.
I used to think about taking photos just to post on Instagram. It was one more thing to think about, and let's be honest, who really cares about what I'm posting? Who was I doing it for? A few weeks after deleting my Instagram account, I stopped thinking about it. The same goes for status updates. I used to find myself walking around, and if something popped into my head, I'd think, "oh, I should post that to Twitter". I don't feel like this anymore.
Not having to worry about posting updates or seeing if people have "liked" my photos has given me more headspace to actually focus on what matters.
I've started reading more books, a lot more. When I go to bed, I read a book instead of checking social networks. I know this sounds obvious, but I've learnt so much by just reading more.
When we twiddle on our phones, refreshing feeds for countless social networks, we don't learn anything. Instead, all we get is bite-sized snippets of useless information we forget almost immediately.
As I read more and thought more about why I felt stressed, I started to look at other areas in my life. I began to make further changes in what now seems to have turned into an ongoing quest to lead a simpler, more focused life. Here are some of the other changes:
Ignoring the news
I stopped reading and watching the news sometime last year. Nothing good ever happens in the news. Reading it just makes me feel incredibly sad and scared. There's nothing I can do about any of it. When was the last time you read a news story and acted upon it? Probably never.
Unsubscribing from all newsletters
If a newsletter comes in from a company that I'm not interested in, I always unsubscribe from it. I don't just trash it. I unsubscribe. Because, unless you make a habit of unsubscribing, they'll just keep coming, and the problem will compound until your inbox is out of control. The same goes for notifications from online services. I unsubscribed from all but the most useful ones.
Switching off voicemail
I did this a while ago, and I've never looked back. My voicemails used to build up, so I had a backlog of messages to listen to and act on. Not anymore. If someone calls, I deal with it there and then. If I don't recognise the number, I usually ignore it. If it's important, they'll call back.
Disabling app notifications
Switch off all non-essential notifications. I only keep Phone, Messages, Passbook, Calendar, Reminders, FaceTime, and Map notifications on. Everything else is switched off. Now I only get pinged for the things that matter most.
Use Do Not Disturb
On my Mac, I often switch on "Do Not Disturb" during the day. I find this invaluable when I need to stay focused. I also have it turned on automatically between 8pm, and 8am on both Mac and iPhone.
Declutter
I've always been tidy. I like everything to be just so, but it can get stressful. It feels like there's always something to tidy or sort out. I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo, and it suddenly clicked. It all made sense why I'd been feeling like this. It was hard to keep the house tidy because we had too much stuff. Stuff we don't need, stuff that we'll never use.
We keep things because we think they might be helpful one day or that we're going to need them at some point. But the truth is we probably won't. Stuff just seems to endlessly accumulate and clutter up the house.
I haven't done everything Marie suggests in her book, but I'm making progress.
iPhone usage rules
I decided to write out some guidelines to try and stop myself from falling back into bad habits. They are here for my reference mainly, but you're more than welcome to follow them:
- No social network apps
- No games or entertainment apps
- No news app (including RSS readers)
- No devices in bed. The Kindle is okay
- No phone in the bedroom
- No phone during social situations
Final thoughts
Just to be clear, I'm not anti-iPhone. On the contrary, the think the iPhone is an incredible device. I just fell into the trap of mindlessly checking social networks to fill every spare moment. It's been an interesting six months, and I've learnt a lot about myself.
I'm going to try and continue to focus on what matters. Because I know, and deep down, I think we all do, that whenever we're endlessly scrolling through social networks, we're just wasting our time.
Going nowhere … isn't about turning your back on the world; it's about stepping away now and then so that you can see the world more clearly and love it more deeply. ~ Pico Iyer
If this article has inspired you, I'd recommend reading The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere by Pico Iyer.