One thing we take for granted today which our predecessors could never even imagine, is our smartphones.
They are fast, reliable and can be an extremely useful tool.
In these small devices, we get access to lots of applications, like social media and emails.
We can get in contact with anyone throughout the entire globe in the matter of seconds.
This can be a good thing, but it can also be the complete opposite.
We get access to any information we want with just a few clicks.
We can contact anyone on the planet that also have access to a phone, with just a few clicks.
All from a little device in fitting in our pockets…
But are there only good things to say about this digitalized world?
Or perhaps the ease and speed of which we can gather information, work and socialize causes us more harm than good?…
Well, let me ask you this…
Do you tend to get frustrated when things take just a few seconds longer?
Or maybe your commute becomes longer because some asshole in front was on his phone and forgot to hit the pedal forcing you to wait for yet another cycle of the traffic light?
Perhaps a website takes two seconds longer to load and you end up skipping it entirely?
The car in front is driving 5 mph slower than the limit, urrrrghh.
All frustrating things, right?
That’s exactly my point.
We’ve lost patience.
The digital tools have made us very impatient and expect things to always go quick.
We’ve gotten used to getting the things we want to very rapidly, and when we don’t, we almost lose our minds.
And because we’re essentially letting everything become quicker, our time flies by faster as well.
The faster and easier things get for us, the more it’s going to distract us from our lives and the faster our lives will pass by.
Steve Jobs knew this.
He is a co-founder of apple, and you could argue he was the inventor of the smartphone as we know it today.
And guess what, he limited screen time to only one hour per day for his entire family.
Clearly there’s something he must’ve known about the impact this could have on us.
Isn’t that ironic?
The founder of such device limits himself and his entire family from using it too extensively.
Yet, by looking at all our co-commuters on every bus, train and station, I would say most of us are completely fixed to our screens.
There’s got to be something that most of us are missing.
It’s not knowledge because we basically have all information we could ever need in our small pockets.
It isn’t comfort nor time.
And it certainly isn’t things to distract ourselves with from the boring reality of our lives.
We just tend to not use the information we have at hand because we’re missing the discipline and willingness to act differently.
These devices are designed to give us instant pleasure without having to do anything.
So why would anyone want to change that?
Why would anyone care about how much or how little we’re using it if we “enjoy” it?
We’ve placed ourselves in a prison without realizing it, where the only thing we’re missing is our lives.
It’s very simple to escape but most of us find it too hard or uncomfortable.
And most of us will choose to stay there because the majority of people do so.
Most of us seem to be willing to just waste our lives away for this small little device.
But worst of all, most of us don’t see the need to escape it.
We choose to ignore the consequences and are setting ourselves up to live miserable and unfulfilled without noticing it.
All we need to do is step away from our screens ever so slightly each day and embrace what nature has given us.
Just slow down and learn to be patient again.
Slow down and let things take its time.
If the car in front drives 5 mph slower, then so be it, they perhaps know something which the rest of us clearly don’t.
I tell you what, those 5 mph slower will not make that big of a difference in the time that it takes.
It’s of course a huge difference if it’s an emergency, I get that, but for a regular drive those 45 seconds quicker you get home, don’t make you miss too much.
I would even argue that it’s the complete opposite.
That by always doing things as quickly as possible, we instead make our time go by faster and in turn miss out on a lot more.
Our phones and computers can be a very handy tool for us but as with everything else money got involved.
Unfortunately for us, our brain gets addicted very easily which gets taken advantage of.
Developers create enticing apps and games which are meant to keep us on there for as long as possible to make as much revenue as possible from advertisement.
Our dopamine system has been tampered with by the introduction of our digital tools, meaning we become less happy when doing things we would’ve previously enjoyed.
We feel more pain and for longer than we previously would’ve done.
We feel less of an urge to do things at all.
We sleep less and with poor quality because our exposure to screens is through the roof.
There really is no good reason for us to spend such large amounts of time scrolling on our phones, but we still do it.
The negative impact phones brought to society can’t be summarized in one short list but the most miserable one of them is the addictive behaviors it creates.
It takes advantage of our dopamine system and creates the fear within us that we could be missing out on something if we were to stop.
It causes us to avoid taking action and push our dreams further away to a point where our lives feel unlivable.
It drastically decreases our patience because we know how quick we can get some things, and when we suddenly have to wait a bit longer for something else, we act like it’s the end of the world.
We rush to get things over with quickly to save time but instead speed up the time.
We essentially distract ourselves from living our own real lives.
Is this really how anyone wants to live?
I removed the most addictive apps entirely from my phone leaving only one to contact family and friends.
I decided to place that one in a separate folder far away from my home screen and would only open it if I had received a notification, then close it as quickly as possible to avoid getting stuck.
At first this was extremely difficult but after a week I already felt a relief and noticed the tremendous amount of extra time I had at my disposal.
And I finally felt free again.
I escaped the prison which I had put myself in in the first place.
And while being out of it, it’s truly sad to see everyone miserable and still stuck inside.
Are you going to escape from this prison and design your own life or will you follow the majority and let destiny decide it for you?
I promise the destiny won’t have your desires and visions in mind and I wouldn’t trust it at all…