Through the years I have found phones to be very distracting. It can be difficult to monitor your time on a phone. You may think you only spoke for a few minutes when in reality an hour has passed by. It is easy to say you will make a quick phone call but it turns out to be a two hour conversation about something new going on in a friend’s life. In the middle of science the phone rings and you answer it only to be on so long the experiment went stale. Sometimes by the time you are off the phone you look at the clock and it is already lunch time and nothing has been done. Worse are the smartphones that alert us to every email, status update, and Pinterest pin on the net. The madness needs to stop.
A long time ago, I made it clear that I did not answer my phone during school hours. If someone had to get a hold of me they could text me. A text does not interrupt, in my opinion, like a phone call. A text can be answered quickly or not answered until later on. I normally answer text messages right away even if it is to explain I am teaching so I will address the need later. Not answering the phone during school has caused much less distraction.
Recently, I decided to silence the notifications on my phone for emails and social media. Those things matter very little during the school day or any time I am spending with family. I admit, when my phone alerted me to check an email or social media, I did. I would just click over for a quick look. Sometimes I would be quick and sometimes not so much. I am so much less stressed and have more time since not paying any attention to alerts. Guess what? The world really does go on without me.