Summer and vacations are the perfect times to slow down, become more observant, and enjoy the present moment. I love watching how people behave in hotels, planes, and restaurants. And there’s one behavior that’s becoming increasingly noticeable: our growing addiction to the dopamine hit from our phones and how we’re all getting hooked.
Books that are only opened for a few minutes on beach chairs before being replaced by a phone screen. Family meals or dinners with friends where everyone is more focused on their devices than on enjoying a good conversation. Even at concerts, where it seems more important to capture the moment with a camera than to actually experience a live performance.
Recently, at a restaurant in Mexico, we burst out laughing when we heard the waiter’s response when we asked for the wifi password: “The wifi here is: put down your phone.” A brilliant reminder that true connection isn’t found online but in enjoying each other’s company, good moments, and our surroundings.
Do you dare to disconnect in order to truly connect?
- Connect with quality individual work sessions of at least 30 minutes.
- Connect by really listening with empathy to someone on your team.
- Connect by giving your full attention to your children and partner.
- Connect through conversations with friends.
- Connect by reading a book.
- Connect by observing people’s behaviors in meetings.
- Connect by noticing the everyday things we’ve stopped noticing.
