Texting On The Toilet: The Addiction To Technology & Three Ways to Break It

I’ll be honest with you — this article only came about after a recent experience of dropping my phone into the toilet.

And you can probably guess what I was doing and why that happened.

The funny thing is, I am one of many who has shared a similar experience because it is not an uncommon thing to take your phone with you on your way to the restroom. Cell phone use has transformed the way that we live today. It has become integrated into the way we socialize, organize, connect, and work. We can now send emails while listening to a new playlist on Spotify while receiving notifications about who has commented on our Facebook status. We check it while we stand in the elevator, while we wait in line at the coffee shop, while we’re stopped at a traffic light, and during any small pause throughout our day. We text on the toilet.

So if this is our normal, how do we transition into a lifestyle that is less consumed by cell phone use? I’m not saying you should chuck your phone out the window right now, but there are lots of simple ways to get away from your phone.

In fact, here are three beginning steps you can take TODAY:

1. Set time limits: If you mostly use your phone for work, make it a rule that you don’t check your phone until after you step foot into the building, and that you stop checking your phone when dinner is on the table.
2. Limit notifications: Do you really need to know every time someone pins one of your thousands of travel pins, or be notified of every “like” on Instagram? Choose the notifications that are most necessary and then turn off the rest — less temptation, less time spent staring at the screen. Your attention span will thank you.
3. “No phone” zones: I bet you saw this one coming. There are some places that just don’t require the use of a cell phone: the bathroom, the kitchen, the dinner table, your bed, the car….the list could go on and on. Map out your path throughout the day and then decide when you can set your phone down. I like to put my phone away when I’m in the kitchen and also anytime I’m waiting in line.

These three changes might be difficult at first, but be intentional about it and soon you will find times during your day that are more open to resting or doing creative things. Your brain will be given a chance to calm down from all the noise of electronic stimulation, and, hey — maybe you’ll even save your phone from a dunk into the toilet.

With less of your time spent staring at a small screen, maybe now you can finally read that one book or do those things you’ve been wanting to do for the past year. Just some ideas.

Now. How many times did I check my phone while writing this? Don’t ask.