When you’re in what psychologists call the State of Flow, you’re 5 times more productive. You’re also happier, which means you’re healthier.
The problem is that most people don’t have the chance to flow because they are constantly interrupted. Pings and dings, knocks on the door or cubicle, phone calls…did you know that the average person gets interrupted between 50 and 60 times just during “standard” working hours?
That includes human and technology interruptions. As far as tech interruptions go, a small 2014 study found that mobile phone users received 63.5 alerts every day on average mostly from messengers and email. The majority of these were viewed within minutes.
Deloitte in a 2016 study found that, on average, people check their phones 47 times a day in response to alerts on average.
Basically, these constant interruptions mean that you’re going to take longer to get a task done and do it worse. Constant notifications and interruptions increase forgetfulness, and inattentiveness compromises effectiveness, increase your stress and make you feel like you have less control over your day.
This can decrease your sense of autonomy which is connected to confidence and a sense of purpose and belonging.
And you do not have time for that.
What’s Causing It
Social pressures and FOMO (fear of missing out) are often blamed. As is technology. It’s easy to lump all tech together and blame it for all our woes. It does bear some responsibility but underlying it all are stress, anxiety, diminished self-worth, fatigue, feeling lost or without a sense of purpose, and similar internal triggers.
Basically, you are trying to fill a void or soothe a pain with a bandaid in the form of a dopamine hit from your phone.
See, our brains release the neurotransmitter dopamine when we satisfy an evolutionary survival need like eating, drinking, reproducing (having sex), and competing to survive. Dopamine is called the “feel-good” hormone because it gives us a sense of pleasure. It also gives us the motivation to do something when we are feeling pleasure.
A number of studies have shown that mobile phone activity releases dopamine, triggering the reward cycle. We feel happy and aroused. Until the sensation fades and we need another hit. So what happens?
In this case, we pick up the phone again…and again…and again. We check in with our apps, to feel connected or see if someone has reached out to us, or see if we’ve missed anything.
Even if you didn’t kick off the notification-dopamine cycle and you genuinely want to get into the flow and feel that sense of accomplishment…you probably haven’t set the boundaries to lessen the interruptions. This is because you are stuck in the need for digital dopamine. It’s hard to break that cycle but it is possible.
How to Break the Cycle
One way to reduce distractions is to keep your phone on Do Not Disturb. Start for just a few hours a time if you can’t go an entire day. Then increase as able. You will catch yourself wanting to scratch that itch of checking your phone, but in time it will be easier to step away when you need to do focused work or have focused family or personal time.
If that feels like a nuclear option, try reducing the number of push notifications and making them more personalized so only specific people and apps can buzz you at any time.
When you are able to implement this long enough to relax into it, you will find that your stress or anxiety diminishes. Notice I said stress or anxiety. There’s a difference between the two.
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