Today, I grabbed my coffee from the usual spot, but this time I sat down and took out my phone from my pocket. I had an urge to check my emails, Slack, and LinkedIn notifications because I hadn’t checked them in the last 8 minutes during my walk from home to the coffee shop.
I asked myself, “What if I had no internet service in this coffee shop?”
Instead of pondering a world where T-Mobile was out of business, I simply turned on airplane mode for 10 minutes.
The urge to check my phone resurfaced. I did check it, but my apps weren’t working. Before this exercise, I would delete email or social apps, but I’d end up checking them on my browser anyway. Admittedly, the native app experience is much better, but I was content with what I got from the browser too.
However, this time was different. I didn’t delete the apps – I just cut off internet access.
And so, I channeled my urge and dopamine needs into filling my Notes App with random thoughts and ideas.
I began observing my surroundings, pondering what I could note down. I felt like an addict looking for a fix. Those 10 minutes were refreshing.
Don’t delete the apps. An easier hack/trick is just to engage airplane mode for 10 minutes.