“The mere presence of their smartphone was enough to reduce their cognitive capacity,” says Adrian Ward, lead researcher.
A study at the University of Austin had some findings that shouldn’t surprise anyone. They had 800 students split up into groups. Some had their phones in their pockets. Some had their phones out on the desk. Some were asked to place their phones in the room next door.
Then they had the people do cognitive tasks and they measured their success rates.
There was a huge gap the size of a Mack truck between the people who had phones out on the desk and those who didn’t. No shocker here – the people with their phones in the next room did the best.
We don’t realize the pull of these distractions. You actually have to use some of your brain power to not check Instagram. To not turn on Candy Crush. It’s easier if there is a physical distance. Just like putting the cookies in the cabinet vs leaving them on the counter. If you put the cookies in the cabinet, I will NEVER EVER open it to get one. You leave them out on the counter and…. wait a minute… where the hell did all the cookies go?
Test it out for yourself. In the next room. In your desk drawer. In your backpack. I bet even a zippered pocket of your bag works better than a non-zippered pocket. Test if for yourself. Try to go an hour without picking up your phone and see if there is a difference.
Have you started making excuses for why YOU can’t put your phone away? LOL. Why your situation is different. I’m using my phone to listen to music as I write this. So I can’t possibly put my phone in my bag. I could just run the music through the laptop. But immediately my brain starts fighting back.
That’s an indicator that you’re an addict. If you immediately come up with reasons why you can’t even test it out for a little while, you’ve got a bit of a problem on your hands. If your brain starts screaming at the thought of going without your phone for even 10 minutes, you MUST test this out.
Good news – The Final Step comes in a physical form. A real honest-to-goodness book. Check it out here:
Brian Wallace
