Imagine getting interrupted at random times throughout all hours by a buzzer demanding your immediate attention.
How long could you handle this before losing your mind?
For me, the first time I dealt with this was at work.
Years later, I had to quit social media to find peace.
And now, coming full circle as a loner hermit luddite*, I’ve been turning off my cell phone.
For the last few months, I turned my phone ringer off when I didn’t want to be interrupted during things like:
- sleeping
- swimming
- practicing yoga
- drumming
- doing Tabata/interval workouts
It worked fairly well, except that the phone would still vibrate when on silent.
I found myself “listening” for the vibration. If I heard it, I’d either be annoyed or would have to check to see who called or texted.
Sometimes it was a friend. Other times it was an appointment reminder. The county blasting out a Covid lockdown order. A “missed call” notice and then a “you have a voicemail” ping.
Whatever the source, it was an interruption in my thoughts that often had me checking the phone to see what I missed.
It was starting to make me crazy.
I don’t like to be constantly disrupted at random times whenever I receive calls or texts.
After a particularly disruptive series of days, I decided to put my phone in Do Not Disturb mode 100% of the time, except when I am waiting for a call.
It’s been two days and I love it.
I can check anytime I want to see if my mom or friends call. The same goes for texts and voicemails.
But nothing pops up on my screen and no noises are sounded to draw my attention away from the real world to look at the screen.
It is freeing.
*I’m not really a hermit nor a luddite. On the contrary, I am turning away from my cell phone so I can purposely engage with people in the real world. In two days, I’ve had more than 6 conversations with people I ran into on the street when walking the dogs. Without my phone to distract me, I participate with those in front of me.
I still love smart phones. Having podcasts, music, maps, notes, calendars, phone service, the internet and email available nearly 100% of the time is an amazing convenience. I use these all the time – just when I want to vs. when the app tells me to..