Life Hack Series - Smart Phone Deaddiction - Monochrome Mode

 All of these above helped me limit the smartphone usage; it didn't take away my constant urge of looking at the phone completely.. Then I found the ULTIMATE Mantra which prevented not only me but my kids from using Smartphone unnecessarily

The tricks I described below helped to some extent. But it did not take away my addiction with the phone and or the kids who are around me who use my phone- 

Life Hack Series - Smart Phone Deaddiction - Out of Mind is Out of Sight

Life Hack Series - Smart Phone Deaddiction - Is Phone with me Or I am with the Phone?

I found an ultimate Mantra  which is to make my colorful mobile - Black & White that is   'Monochrome Mode!’

If you can imagine it is like watching Black and White TV - that's how we watched most of the Ramayana in 80s  and we never got addicted to the TV. See how my home screen looks.

With this new look, kids refused to touch my phone!

Phycological reasons which are not known to me yet, even for me the repetitive urge to pick up the phone dropped down to almost zero and it works like Magic!!!

You can also read my post in Quora here which I wrote sometime back - 

https://www.quora.com/I-am-addicted-to-my-smartphone-and-wasting-so-much-energy-and-time-on-it-It-also-affects-my-mind-negatively-How-do-I-stop-this-bad-habit/answer/Kowshik-Vaishali?ch=10&share=ac3f9d77&srid=38qvi

Life Hack Series - Smart Phone Deaddiction - Out of Mind is Out of Sight

This is a continuation of my previous post. I scrambled through many websites, got tips from my sister and a few of my friends and came out with some tricks to outsmart my Smart Phone.

Keep your Mobile Phone as far away from you as possible - 

I keep the mobile in the next room or on a different floor. that is far from where I sit to work. 

It should be as far as possible from your reach. I've kept it closed in cupboards.

For charging the mobile, there is a charging station which is not in the same room where I work.

Disable all the Notifications - The notifications from social media apps WhatsApp, Facebook, Quora and other apps distracted me a lot and I would reach out to my mobile phone every time there was a "tun!"

I Signed out of all the apps after use and I had to re-login to access them which is not easy every time and that helped me to reduce the smartphone usage! Unfortunately, WhatsApp does not have a log-out feature so it is still a distracting App.

Single Channel of communication  - I uninstalled all the redundant apps like FB messenger, Telegram and retain only WhatsApp as a way of communication.

I also removed all the shortcuts for the social media apps. Some one suggested that place the phone reverse on the table. I tried it but did not work for me much!

Life Hack Series - Smart Phone Deaddiction - Is Phone with me Or I am with the Phone?

I came across a very impactful question/concept a couple of days back...

The question is whether the Phone is with me or whether I am with the Phone.

The phone is with me is a very simple thing... 

You can think of it as the landline phone which we had or still have... It is lying in a corner and we take it only when it is needed...

It is like when I have to make a call or when I get a call...

Take a picture with the camera
When I need directions while driving
I have to book a cab
Order food online

In a way, I need to get any of my work done...

I am with the Phone is when I don't need the phone for any obvious work. But I spend my time and energy on this by...

Looking for messages on WhatsApp

Scroll through Facebook endlessly..

click on videos on YouTube one after the other..

I figured out most of the time I am with the Phone more than the phone is with me! It's a horrible situation to be in... 

That put me on the path of De-addiction with Smartphone.

Spark Joy - Marie Kondo Again!

Marie Kondo with her KonMarie method revolutionized living just by posing one simple question - "Does this Spark Joy in you?". This can be a dress, book, a pot, and even a spoon.

I applied her principles to my living spaces as soon I read her book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing". I have also written about it earlier in my blog here :

https://vaisreflections.blogspot.com/2020/12/life-hack-series-being-tidy.html

Today I read this beautiful article in Deccan Herald which took this concept a step ahead - the clutter of internal kind like fear, anger, worries needs this kind of decluttering too...

Ask your train of thought - Does this Spark Joy?? 

Read the article in the link below:

It is a common observation that if our wardrobe is not crammed full, it’s easier to choose the outfit or if our desks are less cluttered we can focus more on the task at hand. Marie Kondo, Japanese organizing consultant, in her popular TV show, encou...

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/oasis/less-is-more-949171.html

Life Hack Series : 21 Days Challenge - A Magic Wand

I always felt the 21 Days Challenge is overrated till I tried it myself. In 2020, I ventured into a number of 21 Days challenges and to my surprise, it worked like a Magic

As I started with WFH, very soon the days lost their structure. The rhythm it had all these years just vanished into thin air! Phew! Waking up was anytime before 8. Breakfast was almost 11am. Lunch at 3pm, dinner by 10 pm, and sleep by 12 pm.

• My rendezvous with Akshar Yoga triggered my first ever 21 Day Challenge. I was ready by 8am to practice Yoga along with Grand Master Akshar through FB Live. I never realized when the 21 Days got over since Yoga is part of my morning routine.
• I had a long-standing desire of taking up driving. Again it was the 21 Days Challenge that pulled this wish to reality. 
• I am very lazy by nature. Of late I had to rise early for catching the office cab at 6:30am. With the lockdown and WFH, this practice drifted. As I had felt the morning bliss, I wanted to get back to this practice. Hence resorted to the 21 Days Challenge again and now I am up before sunrise daily.

Today I complete yet another 21 Days Challenge - that's Blogging. I have written blog posts for straight 21 days. Isn't it amazing!

Life Hack Series - Being Tidy

I read a book couple of years ago which I can say has undoubtedly changed my perspective on many aspects of my life. The book I am taking about is " The Life Changing magic of tidying"  by Marie Kondo.

I have always been an advocate of tidying & organising home and office spaces. In my own way I always tried to improve it.

In this book tidying is not just an activity or an event but a new perspective on the life and the way live and approach it. Marie has studied, developed and executed the art of organizing the home and other living spaces in a simple yet a compelling way.

I almost talk and walk the talk about Kon Marie method to all my near and dear ones. Mostly to my sister who nodded but probably never understood.

Yesterday while binge watching with my sister and niece, I randomly put the Netflix series Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. Soon after the air at home became so soothing and as they watched the houses and people in the house getting transformed, I could see the change they were going through. Now I understand why they say that picture is better than thousand words.

Even at 10pm at night this is the way my niece folded her dresses in KonMarie way.

Life Hack Series - My experiments with De-addiction from Smart phone

2020 helped me develop many good habits and one real bad habit and that is addiction to my phone..

I got addicted to my smartphone and I had an urge to take my phone now and then look for messages, status updates, likes, comments and what not.. It wasted a lot of my energy and time.

I believe the biggest challenge of our times is to control the use smartphones , limit the time we spend on Facebook, YouTube and other social media apps.

My quest to get rid of this habit made me experiment with myself and challlenge my control over my senses.

I did various experiments and hacked it to some extent and these are the things which help me to do so.

1. Mobile Phone as far away from you as possible - When I do not want to be distracted, I keep the mobile exactly opposite and far from where I sit in the room. It should be as far as possible from your reach. I've also tried placing it in cupboards to avoid excessive use.
2. Disable all the Notifications - The notifications from social media such distracted me a lot and I would reach out for my mobile phone every time there was an 'alert tone'. With no notifications, now this urge is gone.
3. Sign out - After using the social media apps, sign out of them. I had to login again with the password to access them which brought down my usage drastically! Unfortunately WhatsApp does not give this feature.
4. Single Channel (for reaching out to friends & family) - I uninstalled all the redundant apps like FB messenger, Telegram and retain only WhatsApp as a way of communication.
5. Remove all the shortcuts for the social media apps.

Above helped me to limit the smartphone usage to some extent only..it didn't not completely take away my constant urge of taking it in hand and playing with it.. Then I found the this what I call as the ULTIMATE Mantra.

That is 'Monochrome Mode!’This is like the good old Black and White TV.. 

Reasons which are not known to me yet -the repetitive urge to take fiddle with the phone..  droped down to almost zero and  trust me it is Magic!!!