10 phone habits that are ruining your productivity
1. Reading, answering, and deleting emails
According to Jacobs, smartphones take us out of being in the present. When we're constantly checking those work and personal emails, she said it puts us in the mindset of, "I'm doing this rather than just being where I am now."
Mindlessly checking email can easily take us out of the flow state productivity requires.
2. Taking pictures
One of the perks of today's smartphones is that they double as high-quality cameras.
While it's great to want to take a picture here and there to have a keepsake of a particular moment, Jacobs said that playing paparazzi in our own lives is another way of taking us from living in the now.
3. Checking social media
Social media can feed our obsession with other people's lives, but Jacobs said it's also a platform for us to brag to our followers about what we are doing or have done.
She said that by constantly checking social media, we become obsessed with what everyone else is doing and with showing everyone else what we're doing at the expense of the actual task in front of us.
4. Texting
Jacobs said that texting and messaging other people has you more focused on what those people are currently doing, causing a distraction from anything productive that you should be doing.
5. Having our phones with us at all times
Jacobs said she believes that we have lost the capacity to be alone.
"We now think of the phone as our primary attachment figure; all of the people we know and love live in the phone, that's how we talk to them," she said. "We never actually have space by ourselves to contemplate, reflect, or gain insight into the self, in the way we used to be able to."
Knowing and growing ourselves is some of the most productive work we can do, and our phones can get in the way of it.
6. Downloading productivity apps
While Alpert does think that there are some productivity apps that can be helpful, he said he believes that relying solely on them or downloading the wrong one can actually do the opposite. According to him, the best way to stay productive is to have the right mindset.
"How someone thinks can significantly impact their behaviors, drive, and ultimately their output," he said. "People should feel encouraged that developing a go-getter mindset is possible."
7. Getting caught up with notifications
Do you ever find yourself immediately getting off track the moment your phone vibrates?
Alpert said many people do, and these notifications — whether it's a text message or news alert — can distract you from finishing whatever work you have started. He suggested shutting off social media notifications completely. "These merely serve as a distraction and probably don't contain anything urgent," he said.
8. Falling for distractions
With apps, the internet, and other features of smartphones, you can easily find yourself going down a deep rabbit hole of distraction.
"Rarely do people go online or on their phones and stick to the intended reason for checking their phones," he said. "If they're checking weather, that might then lead to checking email, messages, or reading a news story — all this serves as a gross distraction and impacts productivity."
9. Feeling that blue light
According to Alpert, the blue light that is emitted from devices can affect our sleep patterns.
"Blue light is thought to enter the brain through the eyes and impact the pineal gland. This gland plays a role in melatonin production, the hormone that helps regulate sleep and wake cycles," he said. "So device use close to bed could impact someone's ability to get proper rest."
This will have a profound effect on mood, energy levels, and ability to focus and complete tasks, he said.
10. Having all the answers
This one may not be expressly related to productivity, but it is still concerning.
Jacobs said we have lost our ability to wonder, because we can pretty much look up whatever need to; the answers to every burning question we may have are always right at our fingertips. "I think this truncates the creativity process and stunts our imaginations," she said.
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