Breaking the pocket pavlovian reaction.

I’m conducting an experiment.

For the past 5 years I’ve always had some form of smartphone. That’s 5 years of constant connection to the whole of the Internet. 5 years where I’ve never really had a blank, empty moment. 5 years of a constant inward flow of information.

This got me thinking: What else could I have done with that time? Often its only a few minutes here and there, but it certainly adds up.

Now, this does not mean it’s been wasted time. I’ve made some real and valuable friendships and learnt some useful things by being constantly connected.

Having access to things like Twitter and Facebook in my pocket has created a pavlovian reaction when I’m bored or not immediately occupied - an easy way to get a ‘social’ hit. I’m not as bad as some. I know people who conduct entire conversations they’re sat next to whilst 'checking in’ or Tweeting.

So, my experiment: see if I can break that pocket pavlovian reaction. See if I can use a smartphone as a tool, not a thing to grout the cracks in my day to day activities.