Put The Phone Down During Work
I’ve been a big advocate of this for the longest time, and it is the most difficult thing in the world to do. It’s not fucking easy…..but let me propose this to you and help you reframe it in a whole new way.
When you get out of bed in the morning, what do you do?
What is the first thing you reach for? If you are like most adults here in the US, or across the world now, it is probably your phone. That smart device you rely so heavily on for communication, updates, and every possible notification you could use in your life.
But….why?
Studies have shown that when you do not reach for your phone in the morning, you give yourself pause, clarity, room for your brain to breathe, to process what it needs to process first, and is not blasted by hits of dopamine, sereotonin, cortisol (the stress hormone), and not overloaded by a breadth of notifications, messages and to-dos……
This is what happens to most of us when we first reach for our phones in the morning.
Instead, I urge you to sleep with your phone on airplane mode and leave it in the kitchen. Yes, you can still set your alarm and get out of bed to reach for it, but after you knock it off, leave it there, go on with your morning, your day, make breakfast, take your shower, do what you need to do while allowing your brain to breathe. It will happen naturally and your creative imagination will come to you and you’ll feel better, more natural. Give your brain that space. That pause.
Leave the phone away first thing in the morning! Do not reach for it!
When it comes to work….
Now, when it comes to work….we know that the things that require the most attention and focus are better done in the morning. This way, you can use 100% of the focus, effort, and discipline to get the task done. Most studies have shown that discipline and decision-fatigue can set in over the course of the day, (which is why most CEO’s spend their times with their routines and habits so they don’t need to decide on things like what to wear etc.).
What this means for you…..get your shit done early in the day, as soon as possible, with as few distractions as possible. This includes looking at your phone, responding to phone calls and text messages.
When you do this, you give yourself the time, pause, and space for your brain to process what it needs to get done. You ever hear the team, whole ass one thing, never half ass two things…?
Well, it is very true. You want to give your full and undivided attention to that one task, and nothing else. Focus on it. Do it. Wholly. Fully. Completely. Till the end, When you put your phone aside, when you disable notifications, only have one browser open and dedicate your task to the craft at hand - magic happens.
Do you think master crafters who assemble some of the most highly made furniture in the world are multi-tasking?
Incredible things happen when you disassociate with the pull of a million notifications, emails, texts, and hits of dopamine and you fully focus your mind, energy and focus on the task at hand. Wonderful things happen when you do this.
So….do this.
In The End
What you focus on, you become. It becomes you. Focus on your work. Focus on your goals. One at a time. Just do the next thing. Get it done, no excuses, no distractions. Not now, not ever.
When you do this, when you put aside all the distractions, it becomes much easier to focus on your goals, with what you want in life, and what you want out of it. Stillness is the Key. Lay the distractions aside and watch as your forward progress and momentum are catapulted forward into the next echelon of your life.
Email me for more info, let’s talk business, personal efforts, or more philosophy.
info@ckcollective.co
~ Cam King
Understanding and harnessing the power of this principle can profoundly impact our lives. By aligning our goals and actions with the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, we can navigate the complexities of existence with greater clarity and purpose.