Are You A Smoking Zebra?
Before I get to todays guest post I just wanted to give you the heads up on a couple of things.
Firstly, my good friend Vlad Dolezal relaunches his blog Alive With Passion today. Vlad has guested for me on more than one occasion and I’ve no doubt that his new look blog will be worth checking out.
My latest self development ebook, Aligning With Your Core Values is now available on Amazon.
If you have read the book and are happy to review it on Amazon, by way of thanks I’m equally happy to offer any of the other books I have written solo free of charge, irrespective of how you mark it!
Are You A Smoking Zebra?
Have you noticed, we’ve all become like Zebras, constantly puffing on cigarettes?
What?! Stay with me, let me explain.
Mobile phones, texts, smart phones, e-mail, laptops, iPads, Twitter, Facebook… in our work lives and now our home lives, we are surrounded by distractions and noise, constantly.
Our lives are busy, complex and demanding and we are in a constant state of alert!
Like a highly-caffeinated wired Zebra on the digital savannah, eyes wide and ears pricked, waiting every second for the next ‘ping’ from one of our devices.
We’re in a constant state of reacting, looking, listening for noise, and what’s more is – we are now addicted to it.
We crave the messages, the tweets, the likes, the pokes and the pings. It’s more addictive than nicotine. We are hooked, addicted to getting our next fix, like a zebra, permanently on edge, sucking on cigarettes.
Is this lifestyle an exaggeration? Not for some, not for many. Some people are in a constant state of interruptions and distractions. Is that you? And that state (of being a smoking zebra) stops free thinking. It’s a prison for your mind.
Ok, I’ll acknowledge, we do need to connect. We have to have a sense of belonging; we create that through connecting to friends and family. However, there’s a darker side to this.
Why Do We Crave Distraction?
A killer question is: why do we crave distraction?
Well, because silence and ‘space’ are scary. And in the quietness of space, we have to think. (Holy shmoly, please no!). And then… in creeps uncertainty, our fears and unanswered questions. (Mercy, please let it stop).
So let’s avoid all that difficult and deep stuff then, keep busy, keep noisy, eh?
I read a quote last week saying, “There are two kinds of friends, there are those who leave their phones facing up on the table and there are those who have them facing down”.
How ridiculous. How sad. How about having (or being) a friend that keeps their phone in their pocket? Or even a friend who switches their phone off whilst in company?
I agree with Henry David Thoreau who said,
“Men have become tools of their tools”
Strange thing is Mr Thoreau wrote that in 1854!
What The Point?
Well, what’s my point here? This article was inspired by a guy called Scott Belsky and what he’s saying is that our downtime is disappearing and what’s important is that we reclaim it.
I agree with him, wholeheartedly, and I’m banging a drum for downtime. Let’s reign in our digital OCD and have some time-out.
But what is the carrot here for you? Why should you disconnect and have downtime?
Well, maybe it’s not just about benefits, maybe it’s about a red pill or a blue pill: choice.
Have you seen The Matrix when Morpheus says, “You take the blue pill, the story ends and you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
So, do you want to choose to think? Do you want to think about life? Do you want to think what’s important? Do you want to understand yourself?
If you do, take the red pill, make the time for some downtime, some interruption free thinking time and time for big questions. It’s your choice though.
But how do we reclaim our downtime? Do you know what’s a self development myth? It’s actually not difficult to do this. 20 to 30 minutes a day, and that’s all I’m asking.
Whether you are a busy CEO or a busy working mom, you can find twenty to thirty minutes a day if you really want to,, and if you can’t, hire a Life Coach and get help!
I’ve got 3 simple things for you here to help make this happen:
- Computers, phones, TVs, devices, they all have an off button, (believe me). So unplug! Switch off.
- Schedule it. We need to be disciplined to get this time each day.
- No agenda. It’s free thinking time. So walk, sit and have a coffee, fly your kite, meditate, but just make sure that it’s free thinking time.
So summarizing, I’ve got some questions for you: Are you a smoking zebra? Do you crave distraction? If so, why? How about unplugging for twenty to thirty minutes a day for some downtime and free thinking?
How about popping a red pill?
I think life is way too important to just keep running and not think. I think life and you deserve twenty minutes of downtime a day. It’s not much to ask. I think it’s important and it matters, but I guess the big question is: do you think it matters?
Gary Dunstan helps to improve businesses using 20 years experience. However, the big difference with his approach is that he puts the business owner’s needs before the needs of the business.
Motto and favorite tattoo: “Never balanced. Always balancing. Find out more of who, what & how on his short video of 5 questions & 5 answers at Answers To Questions
Do you agree with Gary, and if so what do you do to make your own down time?
Using such devices and technologies is just a prove that we are a people of the 21st Century. It’s true that this gadgets and devices are that useful but what about it’s side effects? ADDICTION is just one of its effects. xD
Would regularly reading this blog and Tim’s tweets put us in the zebra smoking category?
No!!!!
Unless that is you have a highly intelligent and wise Zerba category ;-)
Hi Tim,
I discovered Vlad’s blog about a month or so ago and I am glad that I found it.
I was once one of those people that had to constantly have some kind of noise or distraction in the background. Over a period of several years I have learned to, “enjoy the silence” in my life.
I believe for many it is the “fear” of being alone and in one’s own company that causes them distress.
Agree totally bud, but when we can push past that fear it’s all worthwhile.
Loved this!!,resenated alot with my current learning and understanding of the toll a life time of being on constant alert will take out of you mentaly and physicaly,me time is not just for Christmas!!,I’m more a chocolate biscuit eating zebra thou!!
Glad this struck a chord with you Erlend.
So, do you unplug and disconnect now? When? For how long?
People, business, news & things can wait. Believe me, they can.
It’s about being disciplined. Not always easy, but doable.
You have to give yourself time to switch off every day for some downtime, to re-group, be still, and look after Erlend.
We have a new saying “Me time is not just for Christmas!” Like it ;-)
Accompanied with a picture of a sad-looking dog. It’ll be the number one poster this Christmas!
Thanks Grady. It’s good to admit it… you are now half way to being cured! :-)
There’s that killer question in the article: why do you crave distraction? It’s something I ask myself when I find myself doing it. Sometimes it’s something small, sometimes something bigger.
I’m sure you could get another memory stick for you camera whilst on vacation? Stuff the laptop, leave it at home. Another ‘out there’ suggestion for you which works for me, take a journal and a pen and write stuff down. You will surprise yourself what you will come up with, let loose, without technology, alone with your brain and some free thinking time.
This is a great guest post by Gary. I’ll have to admit that I’ve become a bit addicted to being able to connect online at just about any time from anywhere. I try to be careful about doing so when I’m with others, particularly my family, unless I’m looking up something pertinent to a conversation we’re having.
Even worse is I have my laptop with me when we go on vacations. Part of the reason is to have a place to store images if I should fill up my camera and so that I can do some work when the others go to bed (since I tend to stay up later anyway). The point is that I’m rarely disconnected from technology in some way.
I don’t know how I’ll work it into my schedule, but I’m going to find a way to give myself 20 minutes “disconnect” every day and work on “disconnecting” completely when doing things with family.
Me too Grady. Going for a walk with the dogs and no iPhone is purgatory for me. Which is ridiculous because the scenery where I go is gorgeous and the weather spectacular.
First off, big thanks for the link, Tim!
And Gary, stop reading my mind! I was literally thinking about this topic just one hour ago while taking a walk. I realized I sometimes fill my time so much with distractions I don’t take any time to just think… and man, you know how much that sucks.
I’m actually pretty sure I’ll base my next personal development experiment around that, right after I finish my current one centred around exercise.
You need that time Vlad. We all need downtime.
I live in the countryside and take a walk at lunch when I’m working from home. It’s a totally different experience if I leave my phone on my desk. Sometimes I have to wrestle with my mind to leave it behind, crazy. We get too attached and reliant on being connected.
Gary did actually read your mind Vlad, he stole the idea from you, I think a law suit is in order.
Despite 15 years in IT and being a self confessed gadget girl, I am really starting to lose the love for all the devices and distractions we have available to us and the poor manners they bring with them.
I become frustrated the most when someone is in a conversation with you, while also checking their phone every few minutes, flicking their eyes back to you and responding half heartedly, then carrying on. ‘Back in the day’ it would have been considered the height of rudeness to split off a conversation and start talking to someone else, yet people do it all the time now with texts, Facebook, etc. Not enough people have full and engaged conversation anymore.
Too many of the ‘connecting’ technologies we have today actually do more to disconnect us. We say FB and the likes help us keep in touch with friends and family but now instead of picking up the phone or popping around for a cup of tea and a chat we throw out a ‘Hey how are you?’ on FB and consider the job done. There are much fewer true connections between people with all the technology between us.
Oh here I go…..off on a rant….Pulling head in now….
Sorry, this topic is a hot one for me.
Cell phones at the gym are a major pet peeve of mine and 99% of the time totally unnecessary.
I should have known the writing was on the wall about 20 years ago when playing a guy at squash he dragged a mobile phone the size of a shopping basket on court and plonked it at the front under the foul line.
Was he a surgeon or doctor, or just a knob? I guess we’ll never know.
We both know now he was a knob.
I’m wondering though, at the time, were you envious of his huge mobile?! :-0
Don’t apologize Rachel. Bang the drum!
I was in the pub with 2 friends on Friday night and at one point we all had our phones out. Okay, it was checking the diary for a future get together, but not good form. Digital device or brown beer – there really isn’t a contest.
So, when meeting with friends, how about demanding a SPA (smart phone amnesty) at the start so we can have a real chat?
The love is lost, it’s time for change.
Awesome post. It’s a total lie to call some of these technological advances “productivity tools”. We’re actually more productive without them.
My boss is a technology addict. He’s constantly twiddling on his phone or on Twitter, his concentration is often terrible, and he’ll frequently stop listening part way through a conversation, sometimes even walking off as you’re still talking! I made a decision a little while ago that I didn’t want to be like him. David Rock’s “Your Brain At Work” gives plenty of tips for improving concentration and minimising distraction. If I remember correctly, in that book he explains that with each interruption, we get a small jolt of dopamine, attracting us to novel stimuli. This used to have benefits in evolutionary terms, but these days it more often just wrecks concentration.
A week ago I decided to ramp things up a bit and increase my focus even further. I now sign out of all my chat clients unless I really need to use them. I close Outlook unless I need to send an email. And I sometimes wear headphones to block out office noise. I’ve also limited myself to 5 minutes on Facebook per day. That’s long enough to catch up with anything really important, but I avoid getting sucked in and wasting valuable time. These measures definitely boost my focus and help me to get more done each day.
We also get a dopamine fix when giving to a worthy cause. Maybe that’s a better option for society?
Hi Rob,
Thanks, :-)
As well as being a technology addict your boss sounds downright rude!
You’ve got some good ‘blocking techniques’. Reminds me of the quote from Scott Belsky:
“Brilliance is so rare because it is always obstructed, often by the very stuff that keeps us so busy.”
Gary.
Ps, had a quick peek at your blog, like it. Have you thought of being on Twitter? Bugger, have I just shot myself in the foot?
LMAO – yeh just a little bit mate ;-)
Thanks Gary, that’s kind of you to say so. I’ve tried repeatedly to get into Twitter but it’s just not for me. I’m happy being ignorant!
Good for you Rob! (It’s a dangerous beast that needs a short leash).
Hi,
I am still learning about these new devices. I think people are addicted to them. Some jobs prohibit the use of cell phones with the violator being fired if caught. Do they still use them on the job? You bet they do. Our society is all about instant gratification and information. Good or bad? I’m leaning toward bad and I think we need to slow down and take our 20 minute break.
Thanks,
Jim
Don’t learn Jim!
Seriously though they really are a double edged sword and I really wonder what the next generation is going to be like. Kids not diagnosed with ADHD will be the unusual ones.
Hi Jim,
I second Tim’s comment, there’s actually no need for you to learn.
Keep your phone and computer separate.
I’ve got an iPhone that I only use as a phone, not for email etc. It’s safer that way so you don’t get sucked in to the digital vortex!
20 minutes isn’t a big ask is it? What can’t wait for 20 minutes?
Thanks, Gary.