I survived 12 hours without my phone (and loved it)
This weekend I got to be an extra or “supporting artiste” on a blockbuster movie.
But that wasn’t the best part.
The best part was that they took our phones off us and we didn’t get them back until the end of the shoot, 12 hours later.
I thought it would be torture, especially with all the waiting around.
I was wrong, it was bliss.
The tension in my neck melted away, the anxious dread in my stomach disappeared and I felt content.
And guess what?
When I finally got my phone back there was nothing I’d missed or massive emergency.
I noticed the hungry way I scrolled through email, Insta and LinkedIn trying to devour what I’d missed and instead of satisfaction I felt the tension return. I was left wondering why I was doing this to myself?
So I actually put my phone down again for the evening, but then picked it up for some more mindless scrolling before bed!
I can see that having regular phone free time will be a positive thing for my mental health so I’ve committed to leaving it in my office when I have lunch.
Day 1 so far has been a success.
My goal is to have it in another room when I’m working to see if it has a positive impact on my creativity and productivity. But I’m talking it slow. Big sweeping changes rarely stick.
One other positive benefit of not having my phone during the film shoot was that I talked more with my fellow supporting artistes.
With no phones to divert our attention we focused it on each other and our conversations went far beyond the superficial.
So I’m curious how shared phone free time might help teams build trust with each other more quickly.
I’d love to hear your ideas and I’ll respond to everyone who emails me.
Till next time
Jude
