The Sword in Your Pocket

A smartphone is now a gateway to every single temptation known to humanity.

It’s one of the most powerful devices in the history of our species, and it is the one thing that is setting you up to fail in everything you aspire to do.

It’s like a child or a pet.

• Everywhere you go, it follows.

• Everything you do, it watches.

• Every time you eat, it stares.

It can be incredibly demanding if you don’t set boundaries or time aside for it.

Don’t underestimate what it can do to your mental health, your presence, or your systems.

Everywhere I go, I keep it in my pocket as I look around at public spaces.

When I lived overseas, I saw dozens of people walking around with their heads buried in their phones.

Almost no one between the age of 10 and 40 was paying attention to their surroundings.

Most of the people I locked eyes with on the streets were the elderly and their grandchildren as they took their walks.

It was surreal.

Here in the US, I watch other parents at playgrounds and indoor trampoline parks and even libraries just stare into their phones as their toddlers cluster together in little groups to play.

Make no mistake, this device will suck you in.

It is single-handedly causing countless hours of delay in traffic and tardiness across the world as distracted drivers at stoplights get lost in them and people riding public transportation miss their stops.

And that’s the most benign form of distraction in a vehicle.

I’m not immune to its pull, but I’m definitely aware of it.

It’s a matter of discipline and choice to keep it down while in motion.

The only reason I take my phone out in public is to capture a thought in my notes or a video or to record a moment with my family.

Other than that, I keep notifications to a minimum.

Social media doesn’t need to dominate my every waking moment.

I did an experiment to turn on notifications for a week once, and it nearly drove me insane.

How does anyone get anything done when their phone is buzzing or flashing every five minutes??

These days, there are mornings where I forget where I put it or I leave it alone for an hour or two in another room.

As a parent, there are plenty of more pressing matters to attend to than walk around the house with it in my hands.

There’s no way I’m chasing down a naked toddler while holding it.

I’m certainly not about to wipe his bottom and sling a diaper on him with just one hand either.

You can forget wearing headphones around the house. You need to be listening for that eerie silence.

That’s when you know they’re up to something.

The only times I get to take out my phone are when I need to use a timer or to look up a recipe while cooking for my family or to collect content to show at my kids’ weddings someday…

I can indulge in it when they’re napping during the day, and that’s when I consume content on social media and YouTube or read from my Kindle app.

Outside of that, I mostly keep it on the wireless charger at home.

Why am I sharing this?

The smartphone is one of the most significant inventions this century.

It’s not even old enough to drink yet in its current form, but its presence has untethered us from our desktops and laptops.

It’s a mobile computer far more powerful than the ones that got us to the moon.

It’s our link to the rest of the world.

Don’t make it the center of your daily activities, though.

As I figure out how to articulate my thoughts, I realize that making connections among all the pieces of your experience is a personal process.

The more you understand about your purpose, your values, and your beliefs, the easier it is to free yourself of distractions from these three.

A phone is just a tool that can help you develop and integrate processes and systems to achieve amazing things in life.

It can capture the aspects and moments you deem worth saving, but don’t live through the lens all the time.

You are the prism through which life splits into its many elements.

Once you realize this, it gets easier to protect yourself its siren call.

Make sure you’re the one who’s using it.

Not the other way around.