In this episode we discuss the danger of getting addicted to your screens. We look at how technology is designed to be as addictive as possible, and how those addictions specifically make you spend more time on things like social media and news that make you less happy. We discuss how screens rob us of time and attention and why it’s so hard to break away from them. We also look at how-how you can structure your environment to spend more time away from your phone and create ways to get out of these addictive behavior loops with our guest Dr. Adam Alter. 

  

 

 Dr. Adam Alter is an Associate Professor of Marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business, with an affiliated appointment in the New York University Psychology Department. His research focuses on judgment, decision making, and social psychology. He is the bestselling author of Drunk Tank Pink, and Irresistible, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, and much more!

  

 

Technology programs like Facebook are not designed to make you happy - they're designed to be as addictive as possible and consume you

Steve Jobs didn't let his children use iPads

Why technology giants in Silicon Valley often don’t let their children use technology (and why that’s important for you)

The four negative affects of being addicted to your screens

Your psychological wellbeing

Your threshold for boredom declines dramatically

Boredem is good, it creates creative and divergent thinking

Negatively impacts your social wellbeing

Lowers your emotional intelligence and your ability to read the emotions of others

Negatively impacts you financially

In app purchases

Negatively impacts you in a physical way

Too much time in front of screens

Screens rob you of time and attention

Can’t get into Deep Work

Get less sleep

Not spending time being present, enjoying time with loved one and friends

The Drug of Choice Today is the PHONE

There’s a huge rise in behavioral addictions today

Social media and news make you LESS HAPPY when you use them - leaving you hollow and unfulfilled

AR and VR will make it even more difficult to break away from technology addiction

Apps today are built like slot machines - they are intentionally designed to hook you and not let you go

Humans don’t like open loops - goals help close them 

“Email is a lot like zombies” - you can kill them all and they just keep coming

The abscence of stopping queues makes technology keep you addicted

How can we mindfully create stopping queues in our own lives?

You must become the architect of your own environment to control your own stopping queues

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