> That said, today's society is badly equipped for idleness. With phone notifications going off every few minutes, it's difficult not to be constantly interrupted with the "task" of looking at a text.
replyI have to leave home to read a book. Sitting on a park bench is the only way for me to focus and not get distracted. It’s great, though. We have a beautiful rose garden nearby. Lots of critters scurrying about.
Perpetual Do Not Disturb is a better stopgap
replyI agree for the most part. DND isn't perfect, though. When you're bored, your mind naturally searches for things to do, and you'll be tempted to proactively check your lock screen, which unhelpfully informs you about "3 messages received while in Do Not Disturb." Now you really want to know what those messages are.
replyThis is why I tend to keep my phone physically far away from me, and out of sight.
Less phone usage makes for less phone usage. It gets easier. Now I don't particularly care what the messages are if they come outside of my designated "message checking time."
replyAnecdotally, I'd give it 3 months of "reduced phone usage mindfulness." For further reading, check out the wikipedia article on ∆FosB expression, which is a gene expression which essentially tells your body to keep doing things that release dopamine. It takes about 3 months for the ∆FosB expression to decay.
In my experience turning off my phone solves the temptation to check it. The friction of having to turn on my phone is small but apparently enough.
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