For a class in April 2020 I made it a rule that every student had to put their phones on a table where it couldn’t be moved till break. I did put my own phone there (after taking a picture of course)!
The interesting thing about being without my phone was it made me anxious.
Technoloy allows us to be connected with each other at all times with smartphones. But these wonderful tools are also a curse since they do serious damage to our attention spans.
They lead to what I lovingly call “constant distraction” which means I struggle focusing on one subject or task for an extended period of time. The truth is with a smart phone its hard to be focused for as little as fifteen minutes!
There is always a notification
or sound
or flashing light that distracts my attention.
This kind of distraction also makes it almost impossible to be calm when we don’t have our phones.
Every Wednesday I put my phone into my glove compartment before walking into the prison for a church service there. In my years of serving in the prison ministry, a serious call or text message has never come in while I was there. But that doesn’t keep me from checking my phone the moment I’ve unlocked the door.
Our addiction to phones calls for a serious act….
we must put them away
I don’t mean putting them down because it’s just too easy to pick them up again. Putting them away is a situation like in class where a time has been planned for phones to be unusable. This can mean giving it to someone else, leaving it locked away somewhere, or just leaving it home!!!
at first this kind of action doesn’t lead to focus
but the more we reject distraction….the clearer our minds become.
There is nothing wrong with using technology
but when that technology keeps us from thinking clearly, it’s time to put them away
Johnhwilburn.com 
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