Is Pavlov the boss?

What kind of screen are you reading this on? If the Google Analytics stats are correct, at least 8 out of 10 of you are reading on a cell phone. (Also, if Google Analytics is accurate the average time spent reading the blog per visit is about 1 minute and 22 seconds. Either you all are really fast readers or you're not spending much time here! I'm going to swallow my pride and keep writing.) Before you keep reading, scroll down to the bottom and type a comment with what device you are reading this on (smartphone, computer, tablet, etc.).

I read this blog by Seth Godin yesterday. I'd encourage you to read it as well. I'll wait here while you do. It will take about 1 minute and 22 seconds to read it. In case you didn't read it, I'll summarize. Basically we are addicted to our phones, like a fix, a hit, a high. We are being controlled by these little devices in our pocket. Like Pavlov's dogs, we hear a bell and we respond. Don't we? I usually do.

I got a smartwatch no long ago, and I'm not sure if it's better or worse now. I get notifications right on my wrist. I might look at my phone a little less frequently if we are counting the number of views, but I doubt I look at it less if we're measuring time. My wife likes to remind me about that.

If you read our jointly written blog yesterday, you will remember that one of the topics was spending time together. But, we didn't talk about the quality of the time spent together. If my nose is buried in the phone checking Facebook or Instagram or Google Now or Twitter or... or... or... my actions are belying my words. I may say that time together is important, but I need to make sure I turn the phone off, or get it away from me, or whatever.

Now I know some of you out there will say, "Well, I don't have a Facebook account" or "I don't have the Facebook app on my phone." Well, what do you have? You might have Pinterest. You might have the ESPN app. You might have Netflix, or YouTube, or... or... or... Most of us are guilty of this to some extent. That's one reason you see folks saying they are going on a social media "fast" or that they're "taking a break from Facebook" for a while.

I'm so guilty of this that I put a note on my phone to remind me not to let it consume me. You know how you can put apps together in a folder on your phone? Well, I have one for social media apps. I long ago changed the name of the folder to "Don't Waste Your Life." See...

I'm not sure why we're addicted. We use it to keep up with other people, usually so we can compare lives to those of others. That's not a winning proposition. We use it to keep up with news. Isn't it a lot of fun reading about politics and protests and celebrities? We use it to kill time, hours of our lives at a time. We do use it for good as well, to encourage others, to keep up with family and friends for the right reasons, to let others share in our blessings. Let's do more of that.

I don't really have much advice here, because frankly I'm not in any position to give it. The blog post I referenced earlier about Pavlov reminded me that I need to spend time on things that matter (like writing for you!). I purpose to spend more real time with my kids and my wife, to look at people when they're talking to me, to leave the phone in another room sometimes. And I also am determined to call people more to talk. There are so many friends of mine from years ago that I need to talk to, and not via Facebook Messenger or SMS. I'm going to call them. So if you're a friend and you haven't talked to me in a while, send me your number 

For everyone else reading, here's my only advice. Don't waste your life.

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