From scrolling to stillness: how I’m fighting the urge to pick up my phone
Wintering moss captured on a slow walk
I’m not the only one trying to detach myself from the distraction of my mobile phone.
Ironically, it was reaching for my phone first thing this morning that made me stop and think more about how it fight that urge, thanks to an email popping up in my inbox from Yana Yuhai’s Contemplation Station.
Restless by Design explains the neuroscience behind stillness in what Yahai refers to as this age of constant input, where incessant stimulation is reshaping our attention, and explores ways to fight the urge to grab for our phone.
While I’m not suggesting that reaching for my mobile phone is exemplary morning practice, I am not an easy-early-riser so a slow surfacing from the warmth of my winter-time bed via reading an article that grabbed my attention perhaps isn’t the worst start either: after all, today it sparked off something I’ve been meaning to do for some time - to start the day by writing something, anything.
Today’s personal lesson on what is important, is to do something with that morning reading, i.e. to make that time spent on my mobile meaningful. I have a dreadful memory, so unless I process what I’ve read its message is often lost, or at least the learning from it doesn’t sink in to a place it can easily be recalled. So, here I am, at my dedicated morning spot - my wee round window table overlooking the Meuse - with a slowly-brewing cafetière of Mr Eion Stockbridge blend coffee and a favourite vintage cup, ready to press finger to keyboard to create my first Morning Musing.
I am conscious of avoiding the temptation to do further research before believing this Morning Musing is worthy of sharing (and becomes a lengthier essay of the he-said-she-said style) so that it remains my immediate, personal response to something that I’ve read that made me stop still for a moment.
You can read the Substack article here if you wish to. I wonder what thoughts it will spark in your mind? But here’s what I wanted to share.
Stillness sounds nicer than boredom
My generation frequently refer to being bored when we were young. Especially on Sundays, when all the shops were closed, and in my very early days the main challenge was to avoid having to go to church with my mum (which may be partly why I developed an early interest in golf as I would choose to go with my dad to his golf club instead, and the golf club pro shop unwittingly became a childcare provider).
Boredom has negative connotations linked to having nothing (we want) to do. A quick google of a dictionary example of the use of the word proposes, “I’ll die of boredom“. Enough said. Yet arguably spare time is exactly what many of us need more of. But what if what we opted for more stillness in our life? The quick dictionary search for ‘stillness’ suggests, “absolute stillness greeted our gaze”. Now, that sounds much more appealing.
In her article, Yuhai suggests several alternatives to reaching for our phone while out and about, which she refers to as ‘small experiments in stillness’. The other key word in there is ‘small’: her personal experiments demonstrated that the urgent urge she experienced to grab her phone subsided after only 30 seconds…and without anything drastic happening. Good to know.
My thoughts naturally turned to quick creative fixes. What about if before leaving the house I didn’t just check I had my phone in my bag (and a gold star if I stop to question if I really need to take it with me at all), but also my pen, notebook, current novel and camera? That temptation to grab my phone and scroll could be easily replaced by picking up my pen to write down any thoughts or ideas that come to mind or draw a quick sketch of what I see; or progressing my daily book club practice by reading a page or two from the current book; or capturing the patterns of life that continue to fascinate me with my camera. Or, I could even just let my mind wander and see where it goes when I give it the space it needs.
What if I chose to seek inspiration from within, as opposed to opening myself up to external exploitation from the industries designed to capture and monetise my attention? I can all-too-easily scroll aimlessly for 30 minutes, so surely I am more than capable of resisting the urge to pick up my phone for the 30 seconds it takes for the urge to pass?
For many reasons my phone will remain in my bag, but I hope when I next reach inside it as I find myself stood still at a pedestrian crossing, or in a queue, or waiting to be served in a cafe, I will make a more considered choice about what I pull out to occupy my mind and encourage my busy brain to be still.
What I’ll add to my bag this week:
To read: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
To sketch: the Sketchbook journal I started on the Edinburgh Sketcher’s workshop
To write: my beautiful brass Kaweco pocket fountain pen (which spends too much time inside its tin)
