Week 3
Today I want to introduce you to the work of Eric Pickersgill.
You may have already seen his art. But if not, here are a few pics:
He started this project when he thought about what he and his wife would look like in bed with their backs to each other, barely touching, looking at their phones… but without the phones there.
The craziness of what the world looks like now is reflected in his powerful images. And they quite rightly went viral. But as we look at these pics, we can feel confronted. I don’t want you to feel bad — I want you to know you’re not alone. This is everywhere.
Funnily enough, even though Pickersgill was taking these pictures, it took him a while to start making changes in his own life. Nuts, right? Such is the power of our digital devices and the difficulty in changing habits.
All of us can relate to this. We can KNOW we want to change, but the actual changing is tough. All of us are engaging with our phone in ways that feel ‘normal’... but are they? Is this the kind of life you want to live? We must start consciously using our phones, and I figured these images might hit home for you...
Obviously, phone and digital technologies are not going away — but only by raising our awareness of the way in which we are using them will things change.
So I encourage you this week to take a birds-eye look at your life.
Watch the video to find out more:
Tech Tip - Do Not Disturb
If you haven’t got this already, let me make it clear: changing habits can be tough. So let’s call in the big guns here in Week 3: Let’s literally *lock you out* of addictive apps on your phone!
I wonder the feelings of resistance that might come up for you around this?! It makes my skin feel prickly, that’s for sure. But there is this outrageous freedom when you know you simply can’t go there... Your mind naturally starts looking for other things to do.
The easiest way to lock yourself out is with the ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature on your phone:
I switch on the Do Not Disturb feature in the morning, to help me not pick my phone up. Sometimes I do this in the afternoon too, when the kids get home.
And if you’re an iPhone user, there’s more to come on this front: Apple will be rolling out their ScreenTime feature very soon. Click here to read all the information about what’s coming. I’m excited to set new boundaries for myself!
Extra (optional) Tip
This one is for the parents. If you are limiting your screen time - do it for the kids too.
Parental control App lets you block apps, internet and filter web content on your kids phones.
You can set daily screen time limits and schedules to help your kids be screen free too.
Family Moment allows you to track and manage screen time for everyone in your family.
[progressally_objectives]