I'm Not Productive, I Am Busy Wasting Time on My Phone.
You love your phone. So do I. But we are on our phones WAY too much and the result is less time to dedicate to your actual business.
You don’t have to go any further than a nice restaurant, to realize just how addicted we have become to our phones. A group of 6 people will be sitting there with their phones on the table and any idle moment in the conversation they will jump directly to their phone. Even in the midst of conversation, you will see half the table on their phones.
Not because they have something interesting they are looking up.
Not because they have something important coming in.
But because grabbing our phones, and swiping through senseless apps has become a big part of our lives…and for a better word, an addiction.
10 years ago these restaurants would be bustling with conversation, and while there is still conversation going on these days, it is all too common that people are pulling out their phones to check it…out of habit, not that they have something important coming in.
More phone time equates to less meaningful conversation and human connection. It also means that we are naturally getting worse at expressing ourselves through the spoken word.
This is not just a hindrance to social life, it can profoundly impact your ability to create and grow a business.
Your Business Depends on LESS Phone Usage, Not More.
Less phone usage, more productivity.
Sure there are elements of your business that rely on your phone, but most that claim to be “working” on social media, are mostly wasting their time.
You are much better off spending an hour writing an article for your business, doing some research, building a logo or graphics, researching your niche, or discovering new keywords and opportunities…than you are sitting on Instagram wondering what Snoop Dogg is going to post about today. Lol
The problem is, we don’t control a lot of our activities. It is done implicitly, and out of habit. So to change your activities, and to become more productive and successful in business it is going to take a shift in your habits. Making your BUSINESS a habit, versus your ENTERTAINMENT.
How Much Time Are You Spending on Your Phone
I know I still am over-doing it. I am constantly checking WA from my phone when I am not connected on my computer, but I also waste time
You can check the app usage and screen time stats on your phone. You can also control these, with particular apps but as a starting point you want to get an idea of just how much time you are spending on your phone.
I bet you are spending many hours per day on your phone, like doing things that don't amount to ANY benefit to your life (and definitely not your business). The average person spends 7 hours per day on their phone. Yes, 7!
What if you dedicated a fraction of this time to your business? What if you could get this screen time down to 1 hour, or even 2...and were able to free up an additional 5 hours for business related activities?
You can.
You CAN Create More Time.
The notion that we all have the same number of hours per day is very true, but we all use those hours much differently.
Yes, your phone could be part of your business, but do you really need to check your email 50 times per day, and do you really need to be on Instagram while you are at attempting to write an article? No.
I am not saying to stop using your phone, but focus on using your phone less. The less you use it, the more time you will reclaim that you can dedicate to productive things in your life. Productive things like building your business.
Being on Facebook or Instagram can be part of your business, but you have to be actively doing something that is HELPING your business. Hanging out and looking at other people’s pictures and focusing on their lives, and even sharing yours likely has no relationship to your business. It is pure time waste (though can be entertaining).
So be careful about what you deem a "business activity". If you can be a little more conscious of your overall usage on your phone, then you can improve your business. I can tell you people that are succeeding at the highest rates are not spending their waking days snooping other people's lives on social media. They are doing things that benefit THEIR business.
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So today, I want to task you to use your phone for important things, important communications, and even social fun. But spend more time on the stuff that matters and things that can improve your business, your education, your financial situation and ultimately your quality of life.
Recent Comments
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One of my pet peeves is people who take their phones on the gym floor. Training in the gym is a serious part of my day, at least. I think up to this point their needs to be articles, which I intend to write about the seriousness of understanding phone etiquette which is distracting when you are taking care of your body or working on a business project. That is why voice mail is an application that can allow to set some boundaries.
You see it all the time, and actually I am one to do this on occasion (use it in between sets). This applies to every aspect of life, our phones are always around us and whether we are looking to have a productive workout or a productive day with work, phones can impact us.
I guess it is understandable Kyle, if you have a coach that is feeding online programming but I fail to see the reason for peaking at a phone in between sets when the concentration should be on breathing and the visualization of progressing through the workout.
100% true on all counts.
I have talked about this topic with my wife so many times, people.are completely addicted to their phones . When we go out to eat we leave our phones in the car. When we have dinner at night at our dinning room table we do not use any devices, we talk.
The reliance on devices has absolutely affected the average persons social skills. It is crazy to think how different our society is from say 20 years ago, even 10 years ago.
But we can change it . Start with sma things like leaving your phone in the car at a restaurant . And you can absolutely break the addiction!
Very great advice . Sadly I’m always on the move so I’m on the phone a lot . However I’m working from my phone not on social media or wasting time. I think it depends on how one uses the phone on how it is. So thanks for sharing.
As long as you are aiming to be productive with that time. There is nothing wrong with being on your phone, in particular when you are on the move. You can actually make really good use of that time though. :)
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For me, NOT being productive is not about playing with my phone, but I come on WA to get more progress and seem to get distracted with researching what my Niche is and what I need to do to get the active site running. I have only been here seven days but I have not been on WA everyday.
Yes, there will be distractions and that is unavoidable. Research is a distracting activity by virtue because proper research is not "rigid", you want to allow yourself to wander.
But there are certain tasks that do require more focus, like create content which you want to retain focus in order to be full productive. But sometimes it is unavoidable to get distracted, that's part of the game of productivity.