Phantom Vibration Syndrome: feeling your phone ringing in your pocket when no calls are coming in. Have you experienced it?
On a recent cruise I experienced PVS at least 20 times. I wasn’t even carrying my phone!
I’m not saying I hate being connected to every single person in the world by whipping my phone out. I love the fact that any information I want can be instantly delivered to my pocket for my immediate consumption. But sometimes the information that I’d rather ignore begins to take center stage on my iPhone. Suddenly my phone is no longer serving me…I become its slave.
That chime in my pocket is no longer providing a helpful reminder, it’s demanding my immediate attention. The person on the other end of the text or phone call becomes my boss and the owner of my time. It’s all rather dispiriting. Do you relate to the stress of the master/slave relationship you have with your phone?
Well that brings us to today’s bit of creative drano. Phone-stress can become a hindrance to creativity. So how do you cope with the need for being connected without killing your creative edge?
Consider unplugging. This seems way harder than it is…but seriously, try it. Try unplugging for a day or even for a few hours. Set up an auto-reply on your email and a voicemail message explaining when you’ll be available again. Then shut everything off. Go to a remote location where no one can get ahold of you and just recharge.
I know the question in the back of your head right now is…”What if there’s an emergency?” I’ve found that emergencies are rarely as urgent as we feel. Plus, we aren’t as important as we think we are. The world keeps turning without our help. If you died today, the world would keep going without so much as a hiccup. You can take a day or a few hours off.
