People always tell me that they need more time in their day.
I disagree.
I believe that what you actually need is more energy. The amazing thing about energy, is that you get to protect it! You can shield yourself from distractions and other things that drain your energy. (This topic is something that we can ALL use – even myself.)
It’s probably no surprise that one of the biggest distractions for most people is their phone!
Did you know that the average person checks a social media app around 10 times (or more) per day. Often times, we end up reaching for our phones out of habit! On top of that, we don’t even realize that we’re checking it!
Fun fact: Studies show that when you check one of your social media apps, you’re average session is between 10-20 minutes. The math is clear and simple.
If you check your phone 10 times a day and spend 20 minutes each time on it, you are spending nearly 3 ½ hours of your day on social media! (And you say you need more time, huh?)So I ask, why are you on social media in the first place?
Most responses to this question including “trying to connect with friends or family” or even “connecting for business reasons”. But the truth is that most people fall into the 90/9/1 rule.
Here’s what that is:
- Most people are spending 90% of their time are consuming information.
- 9% of the time we are interacting with information.
- 1% of the time we are actually creating a post.
My next question for you is, what kinds of content are you consuming?
Often times, we are looking at people and wondering why we aren’t doing what they are doing, or we’re comparing ourselves and feeling less-than. These kinds of thoughts take up so much space in our brain!
This content is not building us up, it is sucking energy out of us.
It’s completely distracting us from all of the things we’re trying to accomplish in the first place!
So – if you are trying to get things done while dealing with these distractions, think of what you could be doing with the 3 ½ hours social media may be taking from you.
We have less than 90 days in 2019 and that means that if you still want to take powerful steps forward to reach your goals, you may need to tweak some of your actions. I’ve got you covered – here is a challenge and a tip.
Challenge: Don’t hop on social media for the rest of the day and cut yourself off mid-day for the next three days. I encourage you to do this as thoughtfully and as intentionally as you can. Don’t just try to rush through the next 10 hours and celebrate by curling up with your phone before bed. Really think about how checking out for a bit makes you feel.
- Are you more present?
- Are you actually listening to what your family and friends have to say?
- Do you feel more engaged with the world around you?
- Are more focused and alert?
- Are these feelings you haven’t felt in a while?
- Do you want to keep feeling this way?
If so, you can try incorporating something called ‘batch working’ into your routine. There are plenty of apps that can help with this, but essentially you’ll choose one task to focus on and turn off all notifications so Facebook, Instagram, email, etc. aren’t there to pull you out of focus.
I want to hear from you! Email me at carmen@carmenohling.com and type “I’m in!” the subject line so I know that you’re trying to make this change. I’d love for you to check back with me after your three days and let me know what showed up for you…..
I’m so excited to see what you discover.
Wishing you a ton of light and love,
Carmen
