Like many, my smartphone became a lifeline in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the main source of contact to loved ones, entertainment, the world, and news updates.

Since face-to-face connections have returned in our post-pandemic world, I still see restaurants and businesses full of guests faces illuminated by phone screens even when sharing time with those closest to us.  Maybe it’s a lingering effect from scanning a QR code to access menus, but I suspect it is a learned behavior we struggled with, long before the days of social distancing and masks.

We are all guilty of phone snubbing, aka "phubbing" others. Recently, I have spent some time thinking about how we can be better at giving people more attention, and our devices less.

Our relationships benefit from uninterrupted time, especially from less phubbing. Try establishing a time limit to follow, as short as no phone during a meal or as strict as turning your phone off a couple hours before bedtime. Set standards by putting down your phone and asking your loved ones to follow.

These three tips have helped me to minimize phone distractions:

- #1 I've modified my App Notification settings: Apps have a variety of notification types and options. Disabling push notifications for high frequency alerts, like social media, email, and shopping apps has reduced my FOMO.

- #2 Restricting time spent on the most-distracting apps has helped too: All TCL phones have the Digital Wellbeing function and by enabling time limits for screen time or app use, I have been able to reduce endless scrolling.

- #3 But I didn’t stop at my device settings. I customized my in-app settings for the ones that most vampire my attention: social media algorithms are designed to keep you engaged in in their world, not yours. Curating my feed helps me to limit scrolling and not get lost in a time suck.

Bonus Pro Tip: Take the smartphone out of the equation entirely. You can keep in touch and have access to important notifications with a simple flip phone. The TCL FLIP Pro has a classic  design with smart features like text and email but eliminates the temptation to always be looking down at a screen.

The less we interact with the digital world, the more time we have to immerse IRL, look at the sky, smell the flowers, and give our loved ones our uninterrupted attention.

 

In case you missed it, we've been working hard to support the balance of connection in the digital world we live in! Check out our collab giveaway on Instagram with @cassierandolph for more ideas on how you and your loved ones can stay "Socially Connected" with TCL.