It's OK to switch OFF... Put the Device Down! 4 tips to improve your focus, productivity and health.

The unstoppable rise of devices brings with it some shocking statistics, with a recent study recognising that Device Addiction is affecting 40% of American users. Even more worryingly, that it's now thought that 58% of men and 47% of women are suffering from Nomophobia: the fear of being without a smart phone!

With peak offenders checking their devices up to 990 times per day, it's fair to say that we have a serious problem on our hands.

We are creatures of addiction. Information & Connection Addiction. The device is only the portal through which our inquisitive brains seek to satisfy our intrinsic motivators and obtain some of the things that we thrive most, knowledge, achievement and social engagement.

It's no surprise that the biggest and most successful digital businesses are those that connect people. Uber, Facebook, Alibaba, eBay and Airbnb, all leaders in their respective industries have their main infrastructure invested in digital connectivity platforms that bring people together to trade, both commercially and socially.

By tapping into our intrinsic motivations to create such addictive relationships, we become slaves to devices and it's taking its toll on both our minds and our bodies. A recent study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that too much screen time doubles the risk of being hospitalised or dying from heart disease, while a study in the International Journal of Obesity found that digital media consumption may be linked to obesity, sleep disorders, stress, and depression.

As I sit in a coffee shop in Aalborg, Denmark, with my device on airplane mode to ease it's distracting nature, I begin to work on a book that I'm writing and notice that with email notifications switched off for the past few days and limited access to social media I'm feeling great. My sleep quality has dramatically improved, I'm feeling much more relaxed and my focus has noticeably increased. The benefits of just a few days of reduced device usage are already apparent and it's with this sentiment that I say that it's OK to be OFFline, In fact it's better than OK, it's essential to maintaining your peak productivity and living a healthy life.

Improve your focus and productivity today, while enhancing your sleep quality, reducing social anxiety and improving your happiness by trying out my 4 quick tips to reducing your device usage and easing your daily distraction.

1. Limit Usage. Set times to check your device, but build these times around your lifestyle. Try limiting your connectivity to an hour in the morning, an hour at lunch to begin with, allowing yourself free access in the evening/personal time. Utilise airplane mode and lock your device in your drawer, out of sight, out of mind.
2. Limit Notifications. If someone was sat next to you nagging for your attention every few minutes, you'd probably get pretty agitated (to say the least), your device doing the same thing is not healthy, it will limit your productivity, disrupt your flow and entice you back into a browsing trance that will eat precious minutes out of your day. Limit the notifications that are entangling you by switching them off or at least greatly reduce them. Take a tip from Tim Ferris. In his book, Four Hour Work Week he advises that you Limit email access to specified time slots throughout the day. If you need to, even add an out of office to let your correspondents knows that you will be reviewing and responding to emails at set points and if they have an urgent issue, they should pick up the phone. Apply this to your app notifications too and benefit from both increased focus and enhanced productivity with this killer lifehack.
3. Take a Walk. A recent study showed that 2:55 p.m. is the point in the day when productivity levels are at their lowest. Why not take that time to step away from the office and relax your brain? A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests green spaces lessen “brain fatigue” - the feeling of being distracted, forgetful, and flighty. So go for a walk around the park and leave that trusty little electronic box in the office. Use time to reflect on your day and organise your thoughts, even if its just 15 minutes, you'll head back into the office with a refreshed vigour and some restructured thinking that will drive you through your workload.
4. No Bedtime Browsing - The blue light radiated by our trusty little screens has been proved to disrupt our sleep hormones and negatively affect sleep quality, this can have knock on detriments to focus, productivity and even anxiety and depression! Pick up a book instead, According to Forbes "Successful people read prodigiously." The reading should not always be about topics related to work, mind you. "Reading fiction or non-fiction in fields not directly related to your own may also have the added benefit of providing unusual and less obvious insights to take to work, as so much innovation happens at the intersection of disciplines."

As I continue to write my first book I'm keen to engage with people who are struggling with device overuse and those whom have conquered it. Are you a Nomophobe? Do you struggle with Device Addiction? Have you conquered it? How did you do it? I'd love to hear from you so please get in touch. 

Thanks for reading, Good luck switching OFF. 

JS

Links:

• http://www.addictiontips.net/phone-addiction/phone-addiction-facts/
• http://liveyourvie.com/my-soul/top-health-happiness-benefits-digital-detox-cleanse/
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2015/02/16/five-things-successful-people-do-before-they-go-to-bed/