Breathe
By Alejandra César Gil
I have a confession: I touch my cell phone more than my husband. Yes! And I want to be very emphatic that it is not for lack of love or desire. I admit it knowing that I am not alone in this. I'm sure you also go to bed with your cell phone by your side, you wake up and it's the first thing you see. You scroll, check work emails, notifications and messages from friends.
In trying to find out how much I actually use my phone I came across a study by research firm dscout. In an experiment they observed that on average, people tap, swipe and click about 2,600 times a day. Per year, that's almost 1 million touches, and the figure would reach over 2 million for the 10% with the least self-control.
I once met an editor who proudly told me that he put his phone in an airtight bag and took a bath with it so that he could be reached at any time and not miss any updates. Seriously! Have we lost the right to privacy and disconnection even in the shower?
I find that my smartphone and other screens fill in the gaps. I don't give myself the opportunity to be and just have nothing happen...does it happen to you too? What problems do we mask with the dopamine that gives us that touch?
My best mornings are when I give myself an extra 15 minutes to cuddle with my partner and play with Bowie or Nubecita (two of my gathijos). But more times than I'd like to admit, the first thing I do is check my notifications.
And again, I know I'm not alone, according to a Deloitte study (conducted before the pandemic), a third of people confessed to checking their phone within five minutes of waking up and almost half said they checked their phone at some point during the night.
I propose that we take small steps together. Let's define cell phone free spaces (needless to say, the shower is a no-brainer). I'm not ready to completely exclude my smartphone from the bedroom yet, but the 'baby step' I'll take is to plug it into the opposite end of my bed. I'm going to put a little friction on it so that it simply won't be the first thing I touch when I wake up, I will consciously take this step to always give Alex that first caress of the day.
Think about where you place your attention, your energy, your affection. If you could measure the "emotional touches" you give throughout the day, what would be the count? I suggest you follow some of these small challenges: disconnect at lunchtime, choose one day a week to make a "screen-free night" or turn off notifications that are not urgent or important. You will be surprised to see how you regain control of your time.
Share in the comments if you want to take up these challenges or do any more.
*Alejandra César is a digital strategist with more than 17 years of experience in driving business plans, operations and strategic alliances. She loves traveling and technology, and is passionate about digital wellness. She is co-founder of Oceana Media Lab, a startup that seeks to help creators, media and brands to enhance their social media strategy through consulting, training platforms and product development. For four years she was Strategic Partner Manager at Meta (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), a position from which she led high-impact regional programs such as the Audience Analytics Accelerator for Latin America. Previously she served as Director of Content and Digital Strategy at El Financiero, and before that she held leadership roles at Yahoo! Mexico and Reforma. If you are interested in learning more about social media news and digital transformation follow @oceanamedialab.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of Opinion 51.
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