There is an illness plaguing culture today. This illness has been around for sometime but I feel as though it is becoming an epidemic. What, pre-tell is this illness? (also you're welcome for me using pre-tell in a sentence... but anyways) The illness is obsessive, compulsive, CHECKING.
It is the worst and I am 100% guilty of doing it too so you can't hate on me too hard for calling you out right now.
We check our email, our twitter, instagram, snap chat, vine, pinterest, google stats, and text messages. Our fingers grow restless, as if something, completely separate from conscious selves is itching to know what might be. Do you people realize it used to take weeks, perhaps even months for you to receive correspondence from another HUMAN BEING, if the letter got there at all! I mean... seriously. Even now, I feel the all too familiar twitch, I want to check my email, click away for a second and then click back, no harm no foul right?... wrong! The stats say that, on average, we check our phones 110 times a day AND as frequently as every six SECONDS during peak viewing periods (between 5 and 8 p.m.) which is just bananas! EVERY SIX SECONDS, we really don't have any self control do we!? I mean... I know I am bad, but WOW.
My question is this- what are we looking for?
I, in the good faith that I (kind of) have more important things to do than check my social media, am going to work to limiting my phone time/screen time (though, I do need both things for work so this will be tricky). I have started putting my phone on 'do not disturb' mode (the little moon dude) and must admit that not having your phone buzzing constantly really frees up some brain space.
I mean, I won't say this is on par with, you know, never drinking again or giving up smoking, or going on The Biggest Looser and changing your life forever... but I will say it is probably more challenging than any of you expect.
So what do you say? Whose with me? Who wants to look up from their screens, out into the world and discover all the things we have been missing?!
xx
