Time for me to disconnect
Today we are living in a world where we are always connected. We are connected to the internet, we are connected to each other through social media, we are connected to a live stream of news and world events. We are connected all the time, and we are being fed with information that we can’t handle.
I am no different from you, I am also connected and I am also drowned with the constant flow of information. My attention is divided, I try to multitask all the time (yet we humans are not designed to multitask as humans).
So I decided it’s time to change, and the future starts today, not tomorrow.
The future starts today, not tomorrow.
I decided to disconnect from everything that is not related to me. And focus that time and attention to things that do matter. Most of the apps that we use on our smartphones depend on habit-forming loop and that keeps us coming back, that is why we check our notifications and when we do come back we are rewarded, and this continues until we decide to disconnect.
Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat and Google all knows that and that’s why they are constantly bombarding you with notifications expecting you to return. And when you do you are carried from one story to another aimlessly wondering through all the information that you cannot handle.
So here are the things I have done,
- I removed notifications from all the apps that are not necessary. I only allowed notifications for a selected few apps that help me to stay in touch with my family and the people close to me.
- I uninstalled messenger apps and installed their liter versions, kick, messenger etc, and uninstalled apps that just sit there on my phone, sorry SnapChat.
- From the space I gained by uninstalling these apps I installed a meditation app, Headspace. And started the small meditation sessions they provide.
- I also installed a todo app and that will keep track of the things that I wanted to do but I keep forgetting.
- Stop watching the news, I have stopped watching the news for 2 long years now and I never looked back.
These are only small changes that I have done today to disconnect from the information overload that we face every day. If you are feeling the same way as I do then make a change, try disconnecting for a change. Let me know how you felt.
