So, few years back (around 8 years to be precise!) I bought my first iPhone. I was one of the most excited persons as I was the only one among my colleagues and friends to lay hands on one! So excited that most of my free time was spent browsing internet and apps. Facebook was in early days of developments on mobile. In between my office timings too, I used the iPhone to play games, browse the web and so on.
Typically, my day stated with iPhone right from the time the morning alarm rang till before I slept! I was hooked.
Right after I switched the alarm off and got fresh, I was reading various news sites to look for news and events.
So, do you see what happened here?
I was slave to my phone; that was not it! I read news apps early in the morning, which were filled with all sorts of distractions starting from various world problems, bad news and some good news. This habit of mine became so entrenched, I forgot to live a normal, sane life. My thoughts and conscious was always into keeping up to date with what happened around the world. The constant barrage of news early in the morning had this negative effect on me that I saw the world in a pretty gloomy way.
When you are constantly fed something, your mind thinks that this is right!! I had thoughts about how the news events would affect me! What am I going to do about it? I was anxious, worried, obnoxious.
Precisely, this is what happened:
- Reduction in my productivity;
- Reduction in interaction with others;
- Reduction in creativity;
- Increase in unnecessary tension.
And many other side effects!
Instead do this!
I shared this problem with one of my friends and being much older than me he immediately mentioned, “Your mind, early in the morning is tender, soft and pure. If you continuously feed it with news that is negative, sad, the out will also be similar. So kick this habit of early morning consumption of news.”
‘Oh yes,’ I thought. From the past 4 years, I seldom read any news till it is 12 in the afternoon. Why? Because, by that time, I have done most of my important work. And now, in between the day, the mind has taken positive vibes from the early day.
The results have been amazing:
- Dramatic increase in productivity;
- Noticeable increase in creativity;
- I started my blog, Emirates Diary;
- I made more money;
- And many other positive side effects.
If you are the one who consumes news and social media early in the morning, I’d say, postpone it till afternoon. You will see a huge increase in your productivity and creativity.
Quote:
Cell phones, mobile e-mail, and all the other cool and slick gadgets can cause massive losses in our creative output and overall productivity.
Robin S. Sharma
PS: This may not be suitable for everybody especially if you are a journalist or a media related individual.