Hey, Kody here.
Woke up Saturday morning in the woods of Canada in a *literal* igloo I built the day before. Can confirm it was 100% therapeutic and 100% fun.
Honestly struggled a bit picking this week's topic - hope you enjoy!
habit example
You're at work and it hits you: the painful itch to check your phone.
"I'll just check real quick..."
...and pretty soon "real quick" turns into a 45 minute rabbit-hole leaving you wondering why you opened Insta, Facebook, Twitter, or (if you're like me) YouTube in the first place.
Or maybe you're not into the social interwebs... but you can't help but wonder if Jenny texted you back.
Newsflash: you're not alone.
Here's how much time most people spend staring at their personal glowy-box every day:
Okay now let's play a game - I want you to guess how many times the average person touches their phone every day.
Just pick a random number between 2616 and 2618.
You're right! It's 2617. 😜
And that number is estimated to be double for millennials.
Ok, so we get it. We're super touchy feely with our phones and we probably melt our brains on screens 10x as often as we even exercise.
What're we supposed to do about it?
Honestly, I'm not proposing anything to "solve world screen time" or anything, but there's something I've been trying for a few days that's already starting to help me.
Nir Eyal shares something called the 10 minute rule in his book Indistractible.
It goes like this
- When you feel the urge to do something mindless on your phone,
- give yourself permission to do exactly what you wanna do...
- ...BUT you have to wait 10 minutes before doing it.
In other words, delay your indulgence for 10 minutes.
Keep working, spending time with those around you, or doing whatever you were doing for just 10 more minutes before hopping on your phone.
You might experience one of 3 things:
- you wait 5 minutes and can't resist any longer... good job! You waited 5x longer than normal. Keep trying!
- you wait 10 minutes, then do it. Great job! You're building willpower to delay instant gratification.
- after 10 minutes, you forget about it altogether. Amazing! You became so involved in what you were doing it was no longer a temptation.
But why does it matter to wait if you're just going to do it anyways?
You've probably heard of the famous experiment where researchers gave kids a single marshmallow and were told they could have another if they resisted eating the first one for 10 minutes.
The kids capable of waiting a little bit before enjoying their treat went on in life to make more money, stay out of jail, go further in education, and have better relationships.
So start today - practice hanging in there a few minutes before your next cat-video binge.
It just might make you happier, richer, and keep you out of jail!
try it
You probably understand at this point how to try this, so I'll just throw out a pro-level challenge for the overachievers.
If this isn't too hard for you as is, challenge yourself to actually get something done in the 10 minutes instead of just sitting around waiting.
- Do dishes
- Pay that bill
- Start a load of laundry
- Cleanup your workstation
- Play with your kids
- Take out the garbage
You get the idea. See how much you can get done... use the urge to check your phone to channel some meaningful productivity!
inspiration
🔥 Hot take 🔥
The real reason you're not accomplishing what others around you are accomplishing:
It's not your priority.
But I'm not about to dive into a "you just need to work harder!" spiel. On the contrary. Richie Norton, a favorite author of mine, teaches that a big key in success is doing less so you can focus on what is most important to you.
Nobody ever has a single focus in life. You are juggling a ton at once, and you can only do so much.
For every thing you see someone accomplish, there's a whole list of thing they're NOT doing.
And that's not a bad thing, either. I'm not trying to take away from their accomplishments, but rather highlight the fact that getting there means saying "no" (or "not yet") to other goals.
- Heather Avery (follow on Insta @heatheraverydesign)
actual quote from my 4-year-old 😂
"It is true that I do NOT want to look like an old lady!"
Thanks for reading!
- Kody
P.S. Watch this if you wanna laugh.
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