Digital Wellness + GoBrickNow
We spend far too much time on our phones.
It’s not that phones and technology are bad. They are actually super useful tools, of course, however we should be conscious about how we utilize these tools and the impact they have on our lives.
A term that’s been coined for this consciousness is “Digital Wellness”.
Last week I averaged 3 hours and 48 minutes per day on my phone. That adds up to nearly 2 full months of my life over the course of a year. Pretty embarrassing honestly.
Although, lately I have been way more conscious about putting my phone completely away when I’m with others or completely immersed in something. It feels good to have full release from your phone.
One related initiative that I love is GoBrickNow.
GoBrickNow was started by Tommy Sobel, a former media executive, who saw all of the YouTube creators he was working with struggle through anxieties with their constant phone usage.
“Brick is a community for young people who are dissatisfied with their relationship to screens and social media, and who are looking to spend more time engaged in the real world.
From GoBrickNow’s website
We challenge our community to turn their phone into a “brick” as a daily practice, which means to set it down, put it in Brick Mode, and go do something engaging in the real world.”
It’s just a cool initiative that helps to gamefy putting your phone down and encourages positive relationships with technology.
They also have events in LA, which I haven’t been to yet, but plan to go to when I can.
I listened to a podcast with Tommy about the GoBrickNow initiative not too long ago. One point he made that I really appreciate is that communication with technology drives anxiety when there is inconsistency or unclear expectations. When someone texts back right away all the time and then all the sudden goes dark it stresses you out. Same when you send a time urgent text and there’s no response.
The suggestion Tommy makes is to create an auto response message when you’re in brick mode to let people know you’re out of pocket. On the iPhone you can use the auto reply while driving feature to set this up. They even provide step by step instructions: https://www.gobricknow.com/how-to-setup-brick-mode
Not only can this help your friends and family know you’re not seeing their messages, it also helps relieve your own stress of not knowing what messages you’re missing out on. Because you know that anyone who sent you a message has seen the auto reply that you’re away from your phone.
So if you find me not responding to you for awhile don’t fret, I’m probably in brick mode. I still love you and I’ll get back to you eventually. I encourage you to do the same as well.
Another good podcast on the topic: Rich Roll + Cal Newport on Digital Minimalism
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