Just a Suggestion… It’s Your Call
Turn your phone on airplane mode for two hours. Better yet—just turn it off.
It seems crazy, but only a few decades ago we humans were not instantly accessible at all times of day, and the world still kept turning.
You can find a time when there will be no emergencies—perhaps during the middle of the day. (As the child of two psychotherapists who simply could not be reached during sessions, I know that even as a parent, true emergencies are incredibly rare).
Give it a shot and see if you are just a little bit happier during that time.
If you like the results, you can start to experiment with different times—like when you’re driving (one good way to avoid death by texting).
And if you are really adventurous, you might even do it for longer. Three hours? A day? How long is too long—what is the perfect amount of time that decreases stress instead of increasing it? (We at DailyHap do believe that technology, including cell phones, can make and have made a positive impact on our psyches and societies, therefore there probably is a too long for most people).
A final seed to plant… might there an unexamined self-importance, dare I say a narcissism, in us thinking we need to be accessible at all times?