I have a few bad habits. Namely using my iPhone to frequently scroll through my Facebook news feed, the West Seattle Blog (my neighborhood micro-blog) and Google news. These are all things that, out of habit, I tend to check quite often like when I’m in line at the post office or Costco or while I’m eating breakfast or lunch alone (never when someone else is present).
It sounds so innocuous. After all, what’s wrong with looking at your phone when there’s nothing better to do except stare at the back of someone’s head in line at the store?
But I have felt for awhile that never having downtime is not good for me. To have my phone light up with every incoming text, email and phone call is one thing. But this habit that’s developed of constantly checking my iPhone for new information has just become exhausting. I thought it was just me until I heard a story about this very issue.
On her podcast, New Tech City, Minoush Zomorodi makes the case that brilliance comes from boredom. While that may not completely be true, she certainly has sold me on the idea that without a little (or a lot of) downtime in our day, we don’t have the chance to be creative, to let our mind wander. It’s from these moments when we just allow thoughts to arise, that we can get in touch with an inner creative side of ourselves.
Detoxing
Before even hearing about this new movement, I made a change late last year. I stopped picking up my phone to scroll through my usual sites just to pass the time. I haven’t read my Facebook news feed in about five weeks (instead I check in on individual people). I haven’t read my beloved West Seattle Blog in as long and have neither read my Google news feed nor listened to the news on the radio. Yes, even NPR got switched off.
It really all started when I was in Bhutan in the fall and I was completely offline for nearly a month while I was trekking. I liked that feeling. A lot. So much so that it was hard to plug back in to the online world when I returned to civilization. And though I did let social media and my iPhone creep back into my world after the trek, I soon got tired of it and figured I would try to live without it. Hence, my decision for the new year to cut back on what I was using my iPhone for most.
Now, after detoxing at home, I put this to the test while traveling.
I just returned from Cabo San Lucas for a work/vacation. Rather than sitting by the pool, iPhone in hand, I simply sat, people-watched, enjoyed the swaying palm trees and I daydreamed.
I DAYDREAMED!
I haven’t given myself permission to do that in I don’t know how long.
And I really liked the feeling of letting my mind wander.
Technology is bad for your brain
Many of you will argue with me but I believe that being distracted by your device takes away from moments of actually experiencing something (such as swaying palm trees) and prevents you from entering that state that might take you from bored to brilliant. But if don’t believe me, studies now show that this constant connection–to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest–is literally bad for your brain.
Multi-tasking, which is exactly what we’re doing when we’re eating and texting, making dinner and scrolling through a news feed, or walking through the airport and reading email, increases the production of cortisol. This is our stress hormone and what it does is put our brain in a constant state of over-stimulation.
We then get addicted to that feeling of neurons firing when there’s new stimulation. And we want more. So we (ahem, I) pick up the phone again to see what’s been posted on the West Seattle Blog in the last hour.
Neither our brains nor bodies are built to accommodate this constant input. We need to shut down, relax, unplug. And though it’s not “easy,” there’s really no better place to do that than while on vacation.
The good old days
I grew up traveling without technology. When I was in Vietnam in 1992, it cost about $3/minute to phone home. There were no ATMs, no cell phones and no internet cafes. Hence I relied on guide books, other travelers and locals for information.
While there are definite advantages to having access to all sorts of information today, those were the good old days. When you had to actually talk to other travelers to find out the best or cheapest hotels. Or you found out from the locals where they liked to eat.
In Cabo, we made it a point to talk to our concierge at the Casa Dorada. He had excellent recommendations on where to find quiet beaches and how to get to other parts of the peninsula. I may have found this information online but having daily chats with Christian, we felt like we made a friend along the way.
While in Cabo I still occasionally checked my email on my iPhone while sitting by the pool. That was, I felt, a necessary part of keeping my business running. But instead of scrolling through a news feed or being concerned about the latest bicycle theft in my neighborhood, I read books, magazines and stayed far more present than if I had my head in my iPhone.
I don’t judge other travelers for their behavior and I can’t say that I won’t go back to my habit of picking up my phone when I’m bored, but I think if we were all a bit more conscientious about our bad habits, we might have a deeper and, possibly even more relaxing, experience when we travel.
Be Bold,
Beth
Do you read blogs in Feedly? Click here to add this blog to your Feedly reader.
Photo credits:
Man walking with phone – Attila Schmidt
Phone booths – MikeDixson
Liz says
I am going solo to Spain in March for three weeks. My tendency would be to bury my head in my cell phone or iPad all the time. My hope is to detox on this trip as you suggest in your story. It’s something I definitely need to do and I really want to experience where I’m at, so I hope I stick to it.
Beth Whitman says
Oh, I hope you will detox. It’s SO refreshing 🙂