Something that I am very proud of myself for achieving so far this year is not being so available.
I’m sure many can relate, my phone has become an extension of my arm. It's just always there, by my side. While I’m sleeping, eating, studying, pooping. Where I go, it goes.
I hate it. Why am I being so reliant on a device? Why is it consuming my day, but during my productive and my relaxing time? I also hated how much of my time I was investing into keeping up with other people’s lives and that I was taking away from my own. It reached an embarrassing point where my bedding hadn’t been changed in a couple of weeks, neither had my floor been vacuumed or my laundry been done, but when I caught up with my friends I could tell them the rundown of who saw who on the weekend and did what. Why did I care? No one cared about my curry laksa lunch and I didn’t care about their afternoon walk. Why do we think people need to know or care?
So I made a conscious effort to part ways. Socials are deactivated, and once they’re gone, my instinct to pick up my phone lessened and lessened.
Why do I need to answer people immediately? Pause what I’m doing to prioritise them? It’s a bad habit we’ve all fallen for. Sure we love when we hear back from someone immediately because it feels like we’re having a conversation, but they usually have no substance. I would forget the context of what we texted about within the hour.
My focus is to be more present in the now. Putting my time, energy and attention into myself and those that I encounter in person. Look up and enjoy the scenery; watch the birds fly or the cars drive by. Give people attention to those who are with me rather than those who are not.
My productivity has improved so, so much. My memory is getting better. And I am feeling centred.
