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Our world of never-ending information/notifications

weightedweighted Veteran
edited January 2012 in Buddhism Today
This is something I've been thinking a lot about as a new practitioner. Perhaps it was serendipitous that during meditation I forgot to shut my phone's volume off. (I use noise cancelling earphones for silent meditation, and a meditation timer app.) A text message bleeped through; I smirked, tried not to let it anger me (it was my fault after all!), and just shut off all sounds and began again.

I wonder about how inundated we all are in our world today. Many of us have jobs that we can't leave entirely at the office, there may be emails that have to be responded to on "our" time in the evenings. Texts, emails, all sorts of alerts on our smart phones, etc.

In trying to be more mindful, how do all of you deal with this surplus of information and notifications?

For myself, I am toying with just turning off all alerts on computers and phone, and just checking even email manually - have the moment when I say "I'll check my email" be the moment when I do check and respond as needed, rather than leaving the gateway open always, the constant channel of never-ending alerts that is our world today.

Comments

  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    I find it helpful to segment my time. There are times when I don't answer calls or respond to messages. Times when I don't turn to the TV or computer. I don't feel able to turn away from them completly so I turn away from them temporarily on a daily basis. So I follow your idea and find it helpful.
  • SpacelessSpaceless
    For meditation, you have to behave as though you are a dead man without any physical belonging including yourself :D
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    edited January 2012
    I felt a lot of liberation when I moved into this house which has no TV at all. When my GF comes home all we have to entertain ourselves is each other (and I do not only refer to intamcey of course), conversation between families kind of died when the Tv came into being. I also do not own a fridge, a stove and my fone is a mere alarm when it is turned on. In act my account has been cancelled because I have not topped up in so long. Do I miss any of those things, no I do not.
  • ZeroZero Veteran
    I suppose at first the art is cutting things out so you have space to practice - once youre comfortable then things return bit by bit... eventually practice and everyday life are inseperable...

    say every notification was a cue to stop and smile... not so bad then?

    I feel that closed practice (i.e practice where your environment is controlled to promote the things you think you require for practice) only goes so far... eventually you have to roll with the punches... afterall, water is water whether it's still in a pool or rushing over a waterfall...
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    Very nice post zero, and it speaks a lot of truth. The dharma is there to show us the way to deal with suffering in our world, not to create a world for the dharma to work. In my case, having no TV, fridge etc, this is not really my choice. If I really wanted to I could save up for one, but I see no need. I simply do not have the funds for such things but neither do I miss them.
  • RavenRaven
    I keep my cell on silent a lot of the time, because that way I don't worry about doing so for work - it's already done.

    These days we are inundated with texts, bbms, emails, facebook notifications, etc etc. They can easily overwhelm or drive you to distraction.

    I get a lot - a LOT - of work email. If I'm not careful, I'll blow 2 hours just checking and responding to email. Not something fun on a Saturday afternoon, if avoidable.

    It's good to try to set time aside, and stick to it. I'll tell myself, "I have 30 more minutes to deal with emails and that's it" - this forces me to work mindfully and also deal with things in order of importance instead of order of arrival.

    We had a 2-day blackout about a year ago. It was wonderful! No tv, no internet, no xbox, just quietness and conversation.
  • ZeroZero Veteran
    having no TV, fridge etc, this is not really my choice. If I really wanted to I could save up for one, but I see no need. I simply do not have the funds for such things but neither do I miss them.
    :D funny how life pushes us down certain routes - I'm with you TT... in my time, I've gone 6 months without a fridge, a year with no tv, 2 years with no bed and 8 years with minimal human contact... it all made sense when I was going through it! I've only just managed a bed and I am banned from talking about how comfortable the mattress is - apparently there is nothing special about mattresses!
  • HondenHonden Dallas, TX Veteran
    I've found that notifications can be a great tool for mindfulness training. I have my notifications set to a soft chime and each time I hear it I close my eyes, take a deep breath and focus.
  • ThailandTomThailandTom Veteran
    edited January 2012
    I do prefer the floor for sleeping, partly because it is cooler, firmer and it just has a calling to me. I often wake feeling more refreshed from a tiled floor slumber, although I worry about venemous centipedes as they are a regular thing in this house. Non leathal if you have no extreme allergy, but the pain is mmeant to be worse than that of a cobra bite
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