First off, let me start by saying that this could be a tad ironic since you might be reading this on your smart phone, but put down your phone (after you finish reading this of course)!
Not literally right away, but in life. I too am guilty of this bad habit. Life is short and we should cherish every moment of it. This earth is so beautiful and sometimes we take that for granted because we are so wrapped up with our eyes glued to our phone screens that we might miss it.
But isn’t that what our cameras and SnapChat are for? Wrong. So at times literally put your phone down and enjoy the little things.
When you are out to eat with your family or friends, put your phones down and actually converse with one another. It’s not that bad I promise, my dad even tells terrible dad jokes and I manage to survive.
As a I waiter I see this all the time, families come in to eat and they’re all just glued to their phones not talking to one another, it's quite sad honestly. However, like I said I am by no means perfect and I am striving to work on this as well.
One of my pet peeves is when people are watching a movie or TV show and are nose deep in their phone and miss something then asked what happened. PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY AND YOU MIGHT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED (unless you’re watching Inception because I’m pretty sure no one knows what happened in that movie).
As I said though, I too have this bad habit, but try and correct myself if I catch myself doing this.
With that being said, I am striving to be better about not being so wrapped up in my smart phone. I'm only human, so I am bound to give in and make mistakes.
Here a few tips that have helped me and I hope will help you too with disconnecting from your phone:
1. If you are watching a movie or TV show turn your phone off (It will turn back on I promise).
If you have too, leave it in the car or in another room where you won't be tempted to keep reaching for it.
Actually, enjoy and watch the movie or show you are watching - you don't know what you might miss.
2. When you are out to eat with your family or friends put your phones away and talk to one another.
Ask how their day was or how life is going, you can find out so much by putting your phones town and actually engaging in a conversation.
One fun thing to do if you go out to eat somewhere and want to keep phones out of the equation is to bring a card game of sort. Bring Cards Against Humanity and play few rounds, you may get some odd looks from other people, but it will be enjoyable and you won’t care what others think.
Another idea is to bring a deck of playing cards or even some UNO cards and play a game or two and make the loser pay for your meal or buy you a drink.
3. Last one, if you are out with a group of friends have everyone stack their phone in the middle of the table and the first one to reach for their phone has to buy everyone’s meal or buy a round of drinks.
That one will sure put the phones down, now won't it?
Hopefully these tips and ideas will help you disconnect with your phone, social media and start connecting with people by engaging and being present.
Peace, love and positivity.
KHigh
