A smartphone is like one of those morphine pumps they give patients after surgery where you hit it up to get an instant dose of pain killer and doctors say use it as much as you need to comfort yourself.

Our phones bring us a jolt of adrenalin so we keep tapping it to see if we missed anything, if someone wants us or if they are responding to our social media posts.

It’s a drug.

You can’t just stop turning to your phone unless you have something else that brings happiness to replace it.

Shut the phone down and go solo by interacting with others in real time.

Do like the French, no business emails after work hours — no exceptions. 

Seriously, look at our texts messages.  We could live without 90% of them and not miss a beat. 

Avoid the black hole of scrolling through social media – it’s hard to stop and not worth it.  

Put all apps that help without distracting you on the first two screens of your phone – weather, traffic, Uber, etc.  Everything else goes into folders (Instagram, Facebook, news, music, video, etc.) and when you enter those folders be aware that you are entering a black hole that will usurp your time and distract you from your present surroundings.

51% of Millennials say their number one medical complaint is anxiety.

Reduce it by getting tough with your phone – you own it, don’t let it own you.

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Read some sample chapters of my book Out of Bad Comes Good, The Advantages of Disadvantages here.

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