FOREVER ELSEWHERE
Your phone or smartwatch beeps or buzzes...
The person you are with becomes secondary - not on purpose - but secondary.
I know there are scenarios where this is ok, but I'd argue there are far more where this unnecessarily breaks the face-to-face connection.
Tough on the relationship and tough on your ability to be fully present to the present.
Recently, Chris Parrish (fellow counselor) did a nice job processing with our staff the book The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. Super interesting statistics surrounding Gen Z (ages 12-27), the development of the iPhone and social media, and its relation to anxiety and depression rates. The timing makes Gen Z the first generation to travel through puberty with a screen in their hands. But the jarring quote from an MIT professor Sherry Turkle keeps ringing in my mind... because of the smartphone: "We are forever elsewhere." All of us.
It stung a little, but I like what it's doing in me as I give it more thought! What can change in relationship to my phone, particularly in the evenings to become better present to the present? If you have a few minutes, have a listen!