Get off your phone, your dog will thank you

I have been noticing a significant change in my behavior since starting my “Digital Detox.”  I got rid of most of my apps and followers, uninstalled apps from my phone, tried to take NYC taxis (and not use Uber) set up email blocks (am and pm), bought some hardcover books, and generally have more experiences without my phone.  Boredom is good and hard. It’s an adjustment for sure!   

While reading and learning everything on the subject of digital addiction, I have been stumbling upon the same issue over and over again.   This quote by Albert Einstein keeps on playing in my mind “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” To the extent, we realize that big tech has put us here, into this crazed, dopamine-fueled addiction mode, we can’t trust big tech to get us out.  And while Silicon Valley is off to the races to build an app that tries to get you off an app or off your phone, my suggestion simply is (ready for this one) PUT YOUR PHONE IN THE OTHER ROOM and go do stuff. It feels good after - I promise!  

Here is one quick story and change I have seen in my daily life while minimizing phone use.  I have two dogs Lucia who is 18 and Eva. Eva is a super sweet, adorable 11-year-old gentle Italian Greyhound, and by gentle I really mean skittish. She is afraid of her own shadow, literally.  She has always been this way. Walking on the sidewalks of New York City is virtually a nightmare for her. Hence a nightmare for me. Since leaving my phone at home 3 or 4 times per day while taking these 15-20 minute walks, and giving her my undivided attention (with affirmations and heavy petting of course) Eva's behavioral pattern has noticeably changed.  Now listen I’d be lying if I said to you she lets anyone pet her...or goes near other dogs… (rarely that happens) but she isn’t as scared. She looks to me for comfort and finds it in my gaze. She knows I am with her, I guess before I was on my phone, so she was left to her own device navigating the sidewalks of the city.

Happy 4th of July weekend.