HIDE YOUR PHONE
I fucking mean it.
Like we are not kidding around here.
I am not normally in favor of a hard sell, but this is a hostage situation and you will thank me later.
Don’t Believe me?
Check your screen time.
If you’re thinking, “I don’t know, I’m pretty good with my screen time…”
Sure. Totally.
Why don’t you go pull that up, slugger. Go check it. Go on. I’ll wait…
Why am I this aggressive?
Because, it turns out I drain about an 1 1/2 hours a day JUST ON INSTAGRAM.
-
That’s 547.5 hours a year!!!!
That’s 22.8 days
That’s over 68, 8-hour workdays.
What could you do with over two months worth of straight writing?
Okay, let’s dial it back a little though, I’m not a psycho. Let’s be honest, Instagram is a necessary evil for me…
Let’s say we only reclaim a 1/2 hour of that time - how much does that add up to?
182.5 Hours
That’s almost 23 eight-hour workdays
That's like a whole month if you consider weekends.
Could you write a research paper in a month?
Of course you can! So why couldn’t you write a screenplay?
And I’m not alone.
Data from a report by Nielsen highlights that the average American adult spends over 3.5 hours on their mobile device each day. Reducing screen time could help you reclaim more than 25 hours a month. (Nielsen, The Nielsen Total Audience Report, 2018).
And that’s from 2018 - Pre-Pandemic. There’s no way it hasn’t gone up.
AND that’s not even considering the switching cost.
The High Cost of Task Switching
Research has highlighted the detrimental impact of task switching on productivity. According to a study by Gloria Mark from the University of California, Irvine, it takes an average of about 23 minutes to return to the original task after an interruption, such as checking a smartphone. This fragmentation of work can lead to as much as a 40% loss in productivity, known as the "switching cost" (Mark, G., The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress, 2008).
If this is not already enough to drive the point home, here’s a great kicker:
‘Brain Drain’
A study conducted by the University of Chicago revealed a significant phenomenon known as the "brain drain" effect. The study showed that simply having your phone in eyesight, even if it was off, literally makes you dumber.
Published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research in 2017, the research led by Adrian Ward and his colleagues specifically quantified that cognitive capacity was reduced by as much as 10%. (Ward, A., et al., "Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity," 2017).
This insight is particularly crucial for professions requiring deep concentration, such as screenwriting, where a mere glance at a smartphone could disrupt the flow. Leading to the inevitable - what the fuck was that?! I was in the middle of that thought and it all made sense and WHERE DID IT GO!?
Which, let’s face it, is the worst.
Oh! And I almost forgot to mention, because as we all know writers are such famously stable people, keeping your phone out of sight can have significant mental health benefits.
Mental Health Benefits
A reduction in smartphone interruptions can lead to better mental health outcomes. A study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology found that limiting social media use on smartphones to approximately 30 minutes a day resulted in significant reductions in levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness (Hunt, M.G., Marx, R., Lipson, C., & Young, J., 2018).
Have I convinced you yet?
So while this may seem like a dumb little hack, it’s one that can have MASSIVE CONSEQUENCES for your writing, and even your life in general. Isn’t it great that it’s so easy?
Until you find yourself fixing for an itch that is. But I believe in you Jessie Pinkman, I believe in you.
Do yourself a favor and hide your phone from yourself the next time you want to make sure you get something done.
And if you’re looking for a a good system (with some fun bells and whistles) for hiding your phone from yourself be sure to subscribe! Because next week, we finally unpack THE PRODUCTIVITY BOX.
