How To Beat Digital Distraction

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.]