I recently updated my iPhone to the newest operating system after running an older version for a long time. In getting to know the new bells and whistles, I noticed a new feature called “Screen Time.”
It’s a newer feature in iPhone Settings that allows you to see how much screen time you use per day or per week, lets you schedule downtime away from your screen or set time limits for certain apps, and such. For instance, if you decide to lock down Facebook or Instagram away from yourself after you’ve spent an hour in it a day or something.
The feature also sends out weekly reports, and—let me tell you—when I saw my first report of the average time I’d spent on my phone per day since the new software update, I was SHOCKED! And I don’t really do social media, very little at least.
I’m not going to reveal the number because…of…well, reasons, but I was NOT OK with it. I decided then and there that I needed to overhaul my relationship to tech—and not just my phone. I’m talking emails, web surfing, all of it. No matter where you are on this journey, there’s no shame, ok? It’s about being mindful about how you want to spend your time.
Tech has given us some wonderful tools, but it can also take over our lives and become an awful taskmaster.
In order to regain some control over our time, let’s look at ways we can take regular time-outs from tech.
Since the first trick is a bit of a beast, I’m just going to share it today, and then I’ll share tips #2 and #3 next week.
#1 Cleaning-up Email
Schedule some time to go in and clean house. All those newsletters and advertisements need to go! Clean them out, but before you delete, take a minute to unsubscribe from anything you don’t care about—and don’t forget notifications from social media sites as well.
Pro Tip: Take it company-by-company. Search for all emails from any company, delete all the results but one, and then use that one to click on the unsubscribe button. Then you can clear all those emails at once and make sure you don’t get any in the future.
You can also set-up an email auto-responder that says something like, “Thanks for your message. I only check emails once per day, so if this is an emergency, please call.”
On this note, decide when you will answer emails and stick to that time, and that time only. Some of my clients decide on one or two times a day, and not on weekends. This may be scary at first, but you will soon see that nothing goes wrong. You won’t miss out, or upset people, or lose clients in your business.
Give it a try and free yourself from email hell, and enjoy some other aspect of your life that you’ve been dreaming of. Go on a two-hour date, get a massage, take an extra spin class, take a siesta, meditate, enjoy silence and white space.
Life is too short to be ruled by your inbox, and trust me it’s just a habit that you can adjust to serve your highest good and make life that much sweeter.
Coming up is, a long weekend for Thanksgiving in the US, take that time to schedule your email clean-up and decide how often, when and for how long you’ll answer emails, schedule an auto-responder, and make time for life. If the idea of doing this is daunting, you could just hit delete all. If anything’s an emergency, they’ll email again.
Enjoy emailing less and take control of your time!
Last week in a mini session with Janet, she explained how stressed she was around all her electronics being out of sync and not supporting her in business. Through our consult coaching, she realized in a half-hour how she was thinking was causing her much stress and multiple colds too boot.
Guess what she did? She decided none of the 1000’s of emails in her inbox were as important as her peace of mind and relationships, and she decided to delete them all!!! Shout out to Janet.
A week later she reported feeling freer than a bird, she hadn’t realized what a burden she’d been carrying around. If this sounds terrifying to you, we need to talk. Jump on a mini and let’s figure out what one thing you can let go of to create an enormous amount of time and freedom to enjoy more things you love.
