Bad vibrations
As opposed to Good Vibrations, ha ha.
This is silly, but I have to write about a small change I made a month or so ago, that has been making a huge difference in my life – I turned off text vibrations when my phone is on silent.
Huh? What does that even mean?
Well, I usually have my phone on silent, but it used to be set to vibrate when I got a text. So even though, in theory, my phone was “silent,” I could hear or feel the vibration. Especially with this new plastic phone cover I got. Whoa, is it loud, when the phone vibrated on a hard, flat surface!
I was SUPER distracted by the vibration, especially with the new case. I don’t know about you, but when my phone vibrates or makes the text sound, I get that feeling that I have to look at it IMMEDIATELY. And respond ASAP! So having it on silent was kind of defeating the purpose, if I was still going to be looking at it all the dang time.
So I turned off the vibration in silent mode. And I feel so much less distracted now! It’s amazing! I keep my phone on “silent” most of the time, and just look at it every now in then to see if I have any texts. It’s silly, but now I feel much more in control than the thing vibrating at me all the time.
And that is not to say I don’t like texts. I very much enjoy them! Especially the fun emoji on the iPhone, ha ha. There have just been times when I should have waited to respond to a text, but felt compelled to look at it immediately, since I felt/heard the vibration of it.
I have been thinking a lot about mobile devices lately. Again, I love mine, and I love to overshare, but it makes me feel sad to go to restaurants and see everyone at a table looking at their phone. Or to see play by plays of people’s lives on social media. I keep seeing this commercial of people playing games, in person, with each other, but on their tablets. Must we replace everything? I still think there is a place for real games and real books. Maybe I am just old fashioned.
Do you get distracted by texting and feel you must respond immediately? Or are you good at ignoring your phone?
Themocracy
I keep my phone on silent with vibration while at work. However, I keep my phone on a notepad or other softer surface so I don’t always hear it when it vibrates.
If I don’t respond immediately, sometimes I don’t respond at all because I just forget about it.
In general, I’m just on my phone if I’m bored. If I’m hanging out with friends or family, my phone is almost always in my purse. I feel so rude if I check mine when I’m with someone else (unless I’m expecting to hear about something), and it does drive me nuts when other people do that. My brother is extremely bad about that – like, I just dropped $500 to fly out and visit, and you HAVE TO BE ON YOUR PHONE ALL THE TIME?! Uh, but fortunately, his girlfriend isn’t like that, so I just talk to her instead. 🙂
I sometimes feel like I should carry a purse just so I don’t have my phone on me all the time.
Nah, I’d feel naked.
There were a few incidents like that recently, for me.
I am “suppose” to have it on silent in class. But when the kids school calls I wouldn’t feel it if it was in my pocket. But also I have one professor who will kick you out of the program if he hears your phone going off in class. eh. Most people who talk to me daily know my schedule. I couldn’t imagine not having access to my mini computer. Ive tried it sucks! I only don’t responding the middle of the night. zzzz
I think the same thing–we are always on our phones! When I talk the kids places, I try to leave my phone in the car sometimes so I’m not checking my texts/mail/FB all the time.
I have my phone as being silent, I plug it in when I get home, but I feel like I am boardering on being ancient when I do that
I have my phone on silent ALL THE TIME. The newsroom is very open, and a cell phone ring carries. I get annoyed hearing other people’s phones ring so I try not to annoy myself. I sometimes miss a call from Mark but mostly not. It helps I’m not very popular.
On the last note: I went to lunch with a friend and at the table next to us, there was a family of three – mom, son and daughter. Each of the kids had a portable game player and mom had a smart phone. Everyone played with their devices the ENTIRE meal. I just found it to be sad.
Oh gosh, someone in my office has the most annoying ring! That could be their work phone though. Ha ha. I know what you mean – makes me nuts. And they seem to take a long time to answer.
That is the kind of thing making me feel sad too.
My phone vibrates when I get email but not texts. Who knows how I set it up? I’m pretty good at ignoring it all. Ha!
LOL! I turned off sounds and vibrations for emails too (all the time). They still pop up but I find them as equally distracting.
Anything can be good if you just change how you look at it! right?? maybe not…
if i turn my phone off vibration, I almost ALWAYS miss my phone calls or texts..
Ha ha ha. I never seem to hear my phone ring and miss nearly every call. I kind of don’t mind… 😉
I don’t always have my phone on me and I tend to forget to turn up the ringer so I miss a lot of phone calls and texts. I suppose that’s why I don’t feel pressured to respond to them! By the time I pick up my phone I feel silly responding to something from hours ago 🙂
I still respond to stuff later, just don’t feel as urgent about it. 🙂 I figure if they texted me to start with, they want a response. (And I get frustrated when someone doesn’t respond to me)
Yep, my sentiments exactly, even though I’m guilty of checking my phone too regularly! I’ve really enjoyed putting it on “do not disturb” mode at night and not worrying about being woken up by a notification. Plus, a lot of the time, I feel like I can’t control the notifications that I get and when I get them so turning them all off makes me feel a lot better.