Regaining Control of My Life: How I Make My Smartphone My Servant

By Dr. Barrett Mosbacker

January 26, 2014

Are you the master or the slave of your smartphone? Before you dismiss this question too quickly, take a few moments to consider it carefully. There is a short film titled I Forgot My Phone that captures the problem with uncomfortable accuracy.

It is not the purpose of this article to make you feel guilty. The purpose is to help you become the master of your phone rather than its slave.

Like overcoming any addiction or enslavement, the first step is to admit that you have a problem — that you are shackled to that beeping, buzzing, blinking, omnipresent electronic device.

Do you have a problem? Take an inventory of your relationship with your smartphone. You might be a slave to it if you check your phone in any of these situations:

• During church services
• During your child’s program
• In a meeting
• In your car
• While with your spouse and children
• When you are in a conversation with others
• Before you go to bed
• Before you get out of bed
• During meals
• You feel stressed if you do not have your phone with you
• You cannot resist the pull of constant notifications
• You experience phantom vibrations
• You are constantly checking email and social media

If several of the above describe your relationship with your smartphone, you may be more its slave than its master. Your phone is a terrible taskmaster. It constantly tells you what to do.

Your phone also keeps you in what has been described as a state of “continuous partial attention” — a state of perpetual distraction. Such behavior is destructive to your peace of mind, your relationships, and your productivity. Multitasking is a myth.

The sad truth is that too many of us have become willing slaves of the very device intended to make us more productive — but which may be making us less so. Our phone has become a curse rather than a blessing.

Simple Tips for Breaking the Chains

The good news is that with a little discipline and a few adjustments to your smartphone’s settings, you can regain control of your focus, your peace of mind, your productivity, and your attentiveness to others. Remember, people are always more important than a thing or a task.

Begin by considering the ways in which your phone entices you:

• Notifications on the home screen
• Beeps, dings, rings, buzzes, and vibrations
• Badge icons with numeric notifications
• Always being with you
• Left on during the night
• Receiving calls and text messages while working or in conversation

Create New Habits

Here is how you can bring your phone back under control:

• Turn the phone off at night.
• Turn your phone off during meals and meetings.
• Keep your phone on vibrate most of the time, especially when you are with others.
• Do not look at your phone until you are up, showered, dressed, and have had breakfast. You will not miss anything.
• When with others, put your phone on silent and keep it out of sight.
• Check your email only at predetermined times each day. I schedule two email checks per day on my calendar. The rest of the time my email application is closed.

Adjust Your Settings

Most smartphones allow you to customize notifications extensively. Consider the following:

• Turn off most notifications for email, social media, and other applications.
• Disable notifications from appearing on the home screen.
• Turn off badge icon notifications.
• Move the email application icon off the home screen. You can check email whenever you choose, but if that icon is front and center you will be drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The same applies to social media application icons.
• If your phone has the feature, enable the “do not disturb” option during certain hours. I have mine set from early evening until I leave for work.

I keep my phone on “do not disturb” on Sundays so that the day is reserved for worship, rest, reading, and writing. The only exception is when I am monitoring weather for a potential delayed start or school closure due to inclement weather, in which case I maintain contact with my Executive Team.

The smartphone is a wonderful invention. It can save lives and make us more productive. It can also become our master. As Christians, we have only one Master. Although I am taking this verse slightly out of context, I believe the principle applies — we are to bring every thought, and every device, under the Lordship of Christ. And in doing so, we set an example of self-control and moderation for our students, staff, and parents.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).