Look around. There isn’t a retail clerk, flight attendant or restaurant server that doesn’t have a phone in their hands or within arm’s reach. There’s probably also a nurse or two. I’m just as guilty and am increasingly feeling chained to this device. To top it off, I’ve added the Apple® Watch this year only to find that the pull this tiny device has over me is more powerful than I’d like to admit.
Smartphones are something we can’t, and don’t want to, live without. But they come at a cost and that cost is they can stunt our creativity if we let them. When you’re in a line at the grocery store, what’s the first thing you do? Do you engage the people around you and talk about what you do as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant? Or do you pull out your phone, check your Facebook newsfeed, make a quick survey of Instagram and then look at your texts for important messages? I won’t even ask what you do at the dinner table with your family or just before you turn the lights out in bed.
The cost of not being able to live without our phones and Apple Watches is bigger than it might seem on the surface. Each and every time you engage with a device you become a consumer – whether you’re consuming real or fake news, funny videos, someone else’s point of view or online shopping. When you become a consumer you stop being a creator and your legal nurse consulting business can suffer if your device use becomes excessive or addictive.
I’m committed to stop reflexively reaching for my smartphone and checking my Apple Watch every time they beep, vibrate, ring or chirp. In fact, I’m turning most of those annoying notifications off altogether and eliminating apps I don’t need.
Eliminating unnecessary distractions is how I became the creator of my legal nurse consulting success to begin with. The ubiquity of our devices has made it harder than ever, but if it works for me, I’m confident it can work for you.
Success Is Yours,
P.S. Comment here and share your strategies for staying off your phone and on your CLNC success.