However, every time we snap a quick pic of something, we could in fact be harming our memory of it....
BITS’N’ PIECES
One of the major reasons we take photos is to remember a moment long after it has passed: the birth of a baby, a reunion, a pristine lake. However, every time we snap a quick pic of something, we could in fact be harming our memory of it.
Linda Henkel, a professor of psychology at Fairfield University in Connecticut, studied how taking photos impacts experience and memory. The results showed that a majority of them couldn’t recall as many specific visual details of the photographed art, compared to the art they had merely observed.
“When you take a photo of something, you’re counting on the camera to remember for you,” Henkel said. “You’re basically saying, ‘Okay, I don’t need to think about this any further. The camera’s captured the experience.’ You don’t engage in any of the elaborative or emotional kinds of processing that would help you remember those experiences, because you’ve outsourced it to your camera. The problem is we’re constantly going from one thing to the next to the next.” So instead of outsourcing so we can focus our attention on more important tasks, “we have this constant stream of what’s next, what’s next, what’s next and never fully embrace any of the experiences we’re having.”
Why not challenge yourself to a photo-free day? For 24 hours, see the world through your eyes, not your screen. Take absolutely no pictures — not of your lunch, your children, your cubicle mate, or that beautiful sunset for your Instagram or Snapchat. Just use your brain instead of your phone. No one is going to “heart” or “like” whatever goes on up there, except for you.
When your mind is even slightly resisting a task, it will look for novel things to focus on. And it doesn’t need to look far — only as far as your phone.
Here are five strategies to prevent phones from taking over our time and attention:
Use airplane mode, even when you’re not in the air
Use it when you’re working on an important task or having coffee with someone you value. It eliminates the possibility that notifications will disrupt your work or conversation.
Do a phone swap
Try swapping phones with the people you’re hanging out with. If there is an urgent call or message on your phone, of course, your swap-mate has to promise to tell you, and vice versa.
Prune your apps
Delete the apps on which you waste too much time and attention, including social media and news apps. Also, get rid of apps that duplicate functionality with apps on your other devices. For example, your email app may not be worth keeping if you read mail on your tablet or your laptop, too.
Mind the gaps
Consciously resist the urge to tap on your phone when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, walking to the coffee shop, or in the bathroom. Try to use these breaks to reflect and recharge.
Think twice before adding a new device to your life
Identify what “jobs” you’re “hiring” a device to do for you. For example, you hire your phone to be an alarm clock, camera, GPS navigator, messaging machine, music player etc. Before you add a device to your life, ask: What jobs am I hiring it to do that the devices I already own can’t?
