I recently read an article about slot machine used in casinos and how they’re programed/designed to make you feel gratified and achieved when you bet on one regardless the odds of you winning. To explain a slot machine to the dummies, you basically have to get 3 same looking pictures in 3 columns to win something. But notice how all the 3 columns doesn’t stop spinning at once, they stop one by one revealing the picture from left to right.
The changes of you hitting a jackpot and pretty slim but while you see the first picture appear on the left, you’re not eager to know what comes next in the middle column and the next. It grabs your complete focus and curiosity to “Find Out”.
I also realized something we do with our phones too. Most of us have our phone with us 24/7, You even take it to the shitter if you’re scrolling 9GAG in there. We’re constantly looking forward to new messages and notifications from our peers. The phone goes ‘ting’ and we take all the effort it takes to check what kind of a notification it is, a message, an email, a candy crush request (okeh that’s old).
Our phone control us more than we think it does, the worse part? it manipulates you emotionally. It makes you think your self worth, here’s how…
You receive a few random messages: I’m a popular person, people think about me, they must like me to message me.
You don’t receive any messages: Maybe nobody likes me, nobody thinks about me, I’m a dead deal.
You don’t even realize how your phone could become the tyrannical element in your life subjugating you throughout the day, leaving you relentless. And it doesn’t just stop and messages, you have so many apps constantly pinging you to do an action, or maintain your streak for the bad, just so you feel fulfilled while technically you achieve nothing.
Now phones are also the medium to stay updated and work effectively and productively if you use it the right way. But do we really fall into this category of using phones for our advantage or the first category where we become the subjugated slaves of technology.
Here’s what worked for me and maybe you can try too.
- Turn all the notifications off on your phone: No app should be able to flash the screen, make sound or alert you in any way while you’re working.
- Only check your messages and mail 3 times a day: Or 4 times if its doable, but all the other times you shouldn’t crave to look at your phone to see if anything new pops up.
- Everyday for at least two hours, keep your phone away from you. Being phone free for that couple of hours would be the weirdest feel you’d ever feel, but you would find better clarity and productivity this way. You can also substitute it with a walk where you don’t take your phone.
I’m just beginning to try the things I mentioned above. Let’s try to put a streak on this one shall we? More about how apps control us in the future, as I figure out more to life.
Artwork: https://dribbble.com/shots/3617359-Social-Media-Slave
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