It is 3am and you wake up in a panic. Thoughts are racing through your brain about final preparations for tomorrow’s meeting. You grab the phone perched next to the bed and start filing through your emails to make sure you sent the agenda. You get distracted by other messages about work and, suddenly, it’s 4:15 am and you can’t get back to sleep.
If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Many people struggle with the problem of “late night checking”, even though it can hurt them in many ways. Our devices allow us to stay more connected socially and allow us to work remotely – even across time zones. Unfortunately, frequent use of devices has also been linked the development of impulsiveness, inattention, depression and anxiety. There also may be negative effects on our relationships due to the continual distraction by screens.
Considering the ubiquitous nature of technology and the potential risks associated with its use, we would be well-served to be more mindful of how and when we use our devices. Reflecting on mindfulness in this area may also help us to be more present in other areas of life as well.
Control Your Use, Especially at Night
“Late night checking” is one of the ways that non-mindful use of our devices can harm us. Thinking about work when we should be sleeping may trigger anxiety or insomnia. Additionally, the “blue light” emitted from devices has been shown to suppress the secretion of melatonin (hormone for sleep) which keeps us up longer and further away from the restful sleep we need. We are struck with he conflict of being able to work in multiple time zones, juggling a variety of responsibilities, and caught up in the battle of keeping our inboxes clean. In order to avoid potential problems, leave your phone charging in another room until morning.
Be Present During Your Downtime
While needed vacations can come as a great relief from the daily grind, we often check our emails and text messages in order avoid feeling overwhelmed when we return. Unfortunately, this defeats the purpose of providing an authentic break. What’s the solution? Consider taking an email vacation as part of our actual vacations. Does that sound too difficult? If so, you can choose to “email chunk”, by setting specific times during the day when you will check and respond to emails Another suggestion is to put your phone away during meals – this is a small but important way to maintain healthy relationships with loved ones.
Improve your Focus at Work
Maximum work efficiency is achieved when we find ourselves in the state of “flow” as we work on a single task and work and ideas seem to come easily and naturally. It is nearly impossible to enter this state while constantly switching back and forth from task to task. Constantly checking your device to respond to the latest message will slow you down in the long run. Once again, it’s better to “chunk”
our e-mails so we have set windows of time for responding to messages. This will free up other time to engage in work on projects that require more thought and creativity.
These suggestions don’t mean that you will be unable to manage the communication demands of your job – it just means that you will choose when you want to be fully engaged with your devices and when to focus on other things. This will allow you to more fully enjoy the other aspects of your life without interruption. Remember to start small, and don’t get discouraged if you lapse into old habits. It is a process to change old habits, and takes time just like the habit took time to form.
Good luck with our more mindful use of technology!
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