Stop checking your phone and write a single sentence a day.... nice idea.... but does Greg miss the point with his article?

In a great article written by a smiley face author called Greg Mckeown (who I rate) he writes... 

"In a recent study reported in TIME magazine, people check their phone on average 110 times a day. Some people checked it as much as 900 times a day; that’s once every minute of every waking hour of the day." 

Now don't get me wrong - BUT if your job is to be on the phone i.e. a PR person or social media person or a marketing person or a sales person - then perhaps this is no bad thing. 

Also IF mobile phones have made your work easier or more aptly made you able to DO more things because you keep checking it - then actually the rest of this article might be a little silly. 

But I put it here to show something. I will also let Greg continue...(as he is right about many things.) 

"Given those extremes, I don’t believe it makes me a Luddite to suggest it may be more productive – and certainly more Essentialist - to reach for a pocket notebook or journal before your phone. 

Here are a few reasons why:

1. Checking your phone forces you to be reactive than pro-active; it creates pressure to respond to texts and emails when other people want you to, rather than when it’s convenient for you.

I SAY - Absolutely right and we all feel that especially when linked into work. 

Writing in your notebook puts you back in control of your communication; it gives you the chance to craft your reply instead of shooting it off reactively, and respond on your schedule, not someone else’s

2. Checking your phone fills you with that frenetic, compulsive feeling that you might be missing out.

I SAY - FOMO - noooo waayyyyy - errmmmm yes way - the all too modern phenomena. 

Writing in your notebook has a calming influence.

3. Checking your phone tricks you with the trivial; it fools you into thinking that news and updates from the virtual world are more important than what’s right in from of you in the actual world right now.

I SAY - OK

Writing in your notebook reminds you of what’s important right now.

4. Checking your phone fills every spare moment with noise.

I SAY - Define noise... 

Writing in your notebook provides you time to think and reflect.

"Of course, the benefits of writing in a notebook or journal go beyond the realm of productivity. One of my grandfathers died a few years ago. Upon going through his things, I was struck by what I found, or rather what I didn’t find: not a single journal or notebook or any kind of written record about the life he had lived. Contrast this with my other Grandfather in England who wrote a single line in his journal every couple of days for some fifty years."

I SAY - Why do you think I blog - and why is the paper (which can be damaged / lost or stolen better than digital which can be stored forever in the cloud of Google, cue angels singing...)  

"What I am saying is that if we want to leave a legacy to those who come after us one powerful way to do it is to write a journal. David McCullough, the Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian has said if you want to become the voice of your generation, write a journal entry every day and then gift it to your local university library at the end of your life. Voice of your generation or not, I believe that a journal is one of the most precious gifts you can give to those you leave behind."

I SAY - Seriously I would doubt this - I think universities and libraries - let alone university libraries have more important things to house, to do and to think about than 1000 people a day giving their precious memories to them in leafy tomes of personal and perhaps therefore socially nonsensical sentences to them.  

Greg continues... 

"If journaling sounds too daunting a task for you, I suggest the following simple way to get started:

Write One Sentence Every Day. 

If you want to create this new Essentialist habit, use this counter- intuitive yet effective method: write less than you feel like writing. Typically, when people start to keep a journal they write pages the first day. Then by the second day the prospect of writing so much is daunting, and they procrastinate or abandon the exercise. 

So instead, even if you feel like writing more, force yourself to write no more than one sentence a day. Apply the disciplined pursuit of “less but better” to your journal."

Well...I SAY, I never.... now this IS something I can do and I like - The irony being, of course, I will do this on my iPhone. Now let's make an app for that. 

You see the point here is that bemoaning mobile phones and technology totally misses a key point. Technology enables. That's all. If people want noise they can turn on the radio, the TV, heck even their own minds and talk to others. People who want drama create dramas. 

This article by blaming the mobile phone misses how much the mobile phone could really help the idea that the article is promoting. 

For example, I now meditate more than ever thanks to the mobile app CALM. Which I love and suggest you get - even if you are reading this 50 years from now. Which reminds me.... 

Just did my five minutes - you can check out the best website ever on http://www.calm.com. 

My one sentence today is - "Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change."

Which I will tweet now - which is kinda like writing isn't it?