COURSE

How To Beat Digital Distraction

While many aspects of meditation are timeless, the environment in which we live is not. Digital technologies, from the personal computer and internet to smartphones and wearables, have improved our lives in many ways. Nevertheless, there is an increasing sense of overwhelm and anxiety that comes along with keeping up with it all. This 10 day course is designed to bring you into greater awareness of the ways technology is influencing you and to provide you with tools for improved mindfulness in your day-to-day, busy, mile-a-minute, hectic, buzz-beep-and-ping-filled life.

Performance Stress Stress & Anxiety Mindfulness Secular Focus Mindfulness Meditation Secular Mindfulness

Meet your Teacher

Pete Dunlap

Greenville, SC, USA

We are now spending 60 hours a week with our digital gadgets. Many of us are missing out on quality time at work or with family and friends as we tend to our digital selves. Fortunately, a growing body of research on our connected lives offers fresh insights on how to live productive, calm lives. Pete Dunlap, founder of Digital Detangler, combines years of experience as an educator and software engineer to bring cutting-edge, usable meditations that help you live calmly with your devices.

10 Days

1.5k students

4.2 stars

13 min / day

Performance

English

Lesson 1

Technology Interruption Training

In mindfulness, we normally focus on relaxing and on bringing our attention to the breath. That will still be the focus of this meditation, but this session will begin to feel a bit more like your real life. During the meditation, there will be disruptive technology sounds. These disruptions give you an opportunity to practice responding mindfully to situations that regularly arise and cause you to hit the panic button.

Lesson 2

Device Scan

If you are familiar with the mindfulness body scan, you’ll feel right at home during this session. The only difference is that we’ll focus our attention not on our own bodies, but on our devices instead. You’ll take a few minutes to contemplate your phone, television, tablet, and laptop, noticing the way each influences your moment-to-moment experiences.

Lesson 3

Smartphone Detective

In this session, we’ll extend the last session by focusing further on your smartphone. What does your smartphone tell you about yourself? Do you have a screen protector or case? Is the screen broken? Where have dirt and grease built up? What kinds of messages and notifications appear on your lock screen? How customised is the look and feel of your phone? Does it make a sound as you type? What ringtone for calls and messages have you chosen? Looking deeply into the ways in which our phones possess different qualities allows us to become aware of the ways we’ve put a unique imprint on our mass-produced smartphones.

Lesson 4

Technology Interruption Training

Similar to Day 1’s exercise, this session will provide disruptions at varied moments and at varied volumes. This time, however, you'll experience more space between the phone sounds. During this time between interruptions, try relaxing into a ready awareness that interruptions will come, welcoming them as expected. As you live in a busy world, try to use this technique to get you through days that feel hectic or disjointed. Once we begin to expect changes and interruptions during our day, we tend to become less flustered when they inevitably arrive.

Lesson 5

App Scan

By inspecting your data usage or battery life, you’ll take a look at which apps you spend the most time with. Then you’ll turn your attention to the thought patterns and feelings you associate with each app. While this may seem straightforward at first glance, we can sometimes unearth greater mindfulness by looking into the digital places we go for comfort.

Lesson 6

Bad News: There’s More News

In this session, we’ll talk about the way we rationalise being connected to the news cycle throughout our days. You’ll take a look at the stories running on your latest news source in real time and decide for yourself how often you need to dive into the news. The meditation recommends turning off news notifications to put you back in control of your news consumption.

Lesson 7

Technology Interruption Training

Similar to Day 1’s exercise, this session will provide disruptions at varied moments and at varied volumes. As you face the distracting sounds during your meditation this time, try focusing on the interruptive sounds themselves. The sounds used during this meditation may be considered the most annoying, but challenge yourself to see if you can find any space or peace within these sounds and find a place of rest. It may be counterintuitive to rest during an annoyance but doing so may be a potent tool for finding peace in unlikely places.

Lesson 8

Take a Flight Every Day

During this meditation, you’ll detach from incoming notifications and messages by entering “Airplane Mode.” Feeling disconnected from loved ones and the internet at large can feel daunting. Peeling back the layers of impermanence and insecurity—the false sense that connectedness means safety—will allow you to be more present during moments of solitude as well as community.

Lesson 9

Technology Interruption Training

Similar to Day 1’s exercise, this session will provide disruptions at varied moments and at varied volumes. As you complete this exercise for the final time, try to put all of your experiences together. Can you focus on your breathing in the midst of bracing for interruptions as well as during the interruptions themselves? To close this practice, our final interruption will grow and push your ability to maintain your concentration one final time.

Lesson 10

Tools vs. Media

In this final session, we’ll talk about the two main ways we use technology. The most common way we use technology is as a refuge from boredom. Life can be boring, and many of us run from painful or uncomfortable experiences by seeking entertainment, amusement, and pleasure in our apps. Using technology to mindlessly consume media tends to fill our minds with clutter and distractions, making peace feel far away as we chase the next trend or app that has promised to “change everything.” Another way we use technology is through the use of tools. Using a tool expands our capabilities and allows us to accomplish things that previous generations never would have dreamed of. While, in general, tools make the world an easier place to live, it is important to take time for the mindfulness concept of non-doing. Finding space in your day for non-doing can provide space for a shift in perspective or deeper understanding. [Credit for this idea goes to Nicholas Carr.]

Ask your teacher

This course includes 25 community questions and 6 audio replies from Pete Dunlap. The community classroom and teacher audio replies are only available via the app.

4.2 (47)

Recent Reviews

Rebecca

June 17, 2020

Interesting target goals for the day. I found from the start that I wasn't nearly as addicted to smartphone apps as I feared - I use it a lot, yet, but mostly for productivity purposes and tracking medical needs and activities, of which I have many. I thought I was using it too much but I see now I hardly use it at all for the social media aspects, email, and such. News is perhaps the largest of these areas, but even that is minimal. Though the practices didn't serve their intended function in my case, it was reassuring to know I'm in better overall digital shape than I thought I was. Nicely done!

Trevor

May 16, 2020

Really got me to look at my technology use critically and I now have some tools and tricks to become less technologically dependent! Thank You!

Giacomo

March 6, 2020

A couple of advices are really usefull, but in general I did't like the course. The same meditation is presented 4 times!

Razen

May 16, 2019

I can feel my smartphone mindfully. Thank u and Namaste!!!

Ryan

January 13, 2019

This was very helpful. I feel much more in control of my phone usage now. Thank you!!

Muskoka

December 26, 2018

Thank you This was a course I took time to strategically complete to ensure I was able to identify my own habits . Ironically the I phone came out with a option to view your screen time around the time I started this meditation. I am very conscious if my digital distraction and my boredom default . Thank you for increasing my awareness and offering the tool of information compared to consuming media .

Catherine

November 30, 2018

As an addict seeking recovery i have already removed all sounds and distractions and almost all notifications from my phone so I didn’t relate to most of the meditations. This could be more helpful to users that are at their first steps of recovery. Otherwise thankful for some good knowledge and exercises that were passed along.

Annette

November 24, 2018

Some great ideas for stopping unhealthy habits! It's probably most useful for people who get notifications from their phone all the time and want to beat that constant interruption.

Valerie

November 12, 2018

Course was great!

Linda

November 2, 2018

I found this course very helpful for learning how to mindfully use our electronic tools. Thank you.

Samuel

November 2, 2018

Similar exercises every day, but Pete shares some good insights

João

October 23, 2018

Thank you, Pete. You gave a new perspective in my way of using technology.

Melissa

October 12, 2018

This was okay for me. Some sections were more applicable and some less. I did take away a few strategies that I will use but may not implement each one of the suggestions.

Ollag

October 10, 2018

I almost never use sounds so a lot of the distraction meditation was hard for me to connect with since my phones on mute but i still feel a strong gravity from it

Jorge

October 9, 2018

Great coaching and helpful ideas!

Inge

October 2, 2018

For me this course was a bit disappointing. The interruption training meditations are maybe suitable for people who use sounds on their phones, but I always have all notifications switched off. For me the challenge is still not to grab my phone every 5 minutes... but not because of the notifications and ringtones. I was disappointed that 4 or 5 of the meditations were the same. Also I would have appreciated more if you would reply to your pupils questions sooner. But maybe there is a personal reason for that that we don’t know about. Take care 🙏🏻

September 25, 2018

Wow!! Thanks for this wonderful course. I always find it hard to sleep because I always using my smartphone. This will help me a lot!!

Gail

September 25, 2018

It can be a difficult habit to break but after listening to this course, I already know what to do. Thank you, Pete!

Maddy

September 25, 2018

Pete, thank you so much for opening my eyes to just how addictive technology can be. This course has been a real game changer for me and I can sense a permanent shift. For that I am truly grateful.

Daniela

September 25, 2018

I had no idea of how much I needed this course! Everyone should take it!!!

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