Stealing our attention

Hmm, what shall we have for dinner, is there anything in the fridge?

I think I might have curry, I’ll look up a recipe online.

*Gets phone out*

Oh, some messages, I’ll just check those and send a quick reply.

I’ll just have a quick look at Insta…

Oh, she looks amazing in that bikini and that's such a cool backdrop in that photo!

That looks like a delicious multi coloured bowl of food, Yum!

Oh yeah, curry recipes, that’s what I was meant to be doing!

I really need a new frying pan, I’ll just have a quick look at those.

There are so many options, how do I decide!

“So what are we having for dinner?” asks a voice

“Hmm, oh yeah dinner! I’m just having a look.”

We spend so much of our time distracted. With our heads in the devices in our hands.

They act as a portal to another more intense, more exciting world, full of things just outside our grasp.

We live distracted, half doing two things at once, doing neither fully. We miss out on the details and nuances of life as we’re absorbed in a personally curated digital world.

If only we could stop for a second and pay attention to the one thing in front of us. Put our phones away and truly listen to our loved ones as they tell us about their day. 

Pay full attention to the food we’re so privileged to be eating, that came so easily to our plates and with so little effort from us. 

Building the skill of not succumbing to distractions takes practice. It takes observation. It takes patience with ourselves. It takes gentleness and kindness to ourselves and it takes pausing before acting and checking in with our motivation. 

This is a skill I practise, yet I often catch myself reaching out to my phone out of boredom. I observe what I’m doing and question why, sometimes I carry on but more often I put the phone away.

It's not about striving for the perfection of never being distracted, it's about doing my best in the moment and compassionately observing my actions.

It is a skill to resist the dopamine hits of our phones and as with all skills it takes acceptance, kindness to ourselves and practice. 

If you find yourself reaching for your phone, I invite you to notice this, be compassionate with yourself and pause just for a second to check your motivation.

With practice you can refine this skill and become more focussed, not just for the sake of efficiency, but for your own personal happiness. 

Do it so that you can notice the details of the clouds in the sky and the colours of the leaves as the seasons change. Do it so that you can be more present with your loved ones.