4 Ways To Start Soaking in Life (#2 Start Living in the Real World)
Billy Ray Cyrus was best known for his 1992 song “Achy Breaky Heart” but he did have a few other hits after that. One of those was called “Busy Man”. The lyrics describe a man who is always putting his work before his family. The words that have always stuck in my mind are the following:
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words?
“If only I had spent more time at work”
If I were going to update this song and make it more relevant for today, I would replace the word “work” with “social media”. I doubt that anyone who is near death has ever said, “If only I had spent more time on social media”.
The truth is that most of us have an addiction to our smart phones and social media. I will be the first to admit it. Whenever I have a couple of free moments, I get my phone out and start scrolling without even thinking about it. If I am talking with someone and get a notification, I am instantly distracted from my conversation and will remain so until I read the notification. My attention span is shorter in conversations, when reading books, and even when watching things like movies or sporting events. It is a rare show that I will sit and watch without being on my phone at the same time.
It is my contention that social media/smart phones are robbing us of precious time with those we love. Even when we are present with our loved ones, we are often not present to them. We are no different than the “busy man” in Billy Ray’s song. The question is whether or not we are willing to change before it’s too late.
In this second of my four-part series on ways to start soaking up life, I’d like you to consider the impact that social media and your smart phone is having on your life. While social media definitely has some positive aspects such as allowing connection with distant family and friends, ask yourself if you could make a drastic cut in your screen time and still have those positives.
Here are a few ideas to try:
Reduce the time that you check your social media or non-work email to twice a day, morning and evening.
When you are home, put your cell phone on the counter away from where you are so that you’re not tempted to check it every 5 seconds.
On your settings, turn on your screen time tracker and make a goal to reduce your daily screen time.
Tell your family or friends to call you rather than text if there is anything urgent. That way, if you get a text notification while you’re deep in conversation with someone, you will know that it is not an urgent matter and does not need to be immediately read.
When you’re alone, spend some time in silence. Turn off the constant noise and give God a chance to communicate with you.
Get back to reading books so that you can expand your attention span.
When you’re in conversation with someone, give them your full attention. People who met Mother Theresa and John Paul II would often comment that when they were talking to these two saints, they were so focused on you it was as if nothing else in the world mattered. That is how I want the people in my life to feel when they talk to me. Unfortunately, I am acutely aware that I have a long way to go on this. But, making a drastic cut in my screen time will help me improve in this area.
I have been trying some of the above suggestions out. On days where I am successful at reducing screen time, I have had less anxiety, felt more peaceful, enjoyed my family more, had more time to get things accomplished, and had some great conversations. I will readily admit that there is some withdrawal from this addiction. When I have those free moments, I feel this craving to scroll on social media. Sometimes I resist it and sometimes not. I am a work in progress. But I am determined to keep improving. It’s high time that I took a step out of the virtual world and back into the real world.