While sick recently, I’ve found myself regretting a promise I made to a friend. We were talking about how phone games can eat up your time — hours, even days of it — without any benefits. After playing a phone game, I feel the same or worse than when I started, despite the fact I originally opened the app to relax.
I knew they weren’t good for me and tried my best to stay away, playing only now and then. When I had the itch to do something mindless for a few minutes, I would install my favorite jigsaw app and play. And a few days later, appalled at the amount of time I’d invested, I would un-install it again.
It didn’t matter how many times I told myself I wasn’t going to play any more — I kept re-installing the app. Desperate to stop, I switched to other games, but they were just as addictive.
Then I promised my friend I wouldn’t install any game apps on my phone ever. To my surprise, it’s a promise I’ve kept, even when illness had me feeling unable to do much of anything.
Every time I’ve felt the urge to play a phone game, I’ve had to find something else to do. It might take some energy to get set up and started, but these activities gave me something soothing to do without increasing my screen time.
Instead of doing digital puzzles, I got out analog ones. I got out a coloring book and played with new techniques. I doubled the length of my cross-stitched border sampler (an improv piece I started last year) and declared it finished. And when I had the brain power, I read books.
4 x 22 inches
These all definitely took more work than playing a game on my phone, but the effort was worth it. They were just as engaging as a phone game and more restorative. They didn’t always help me feel better, but I at least had something to show for the hours I’d spent, hours I can actually remember.
Apparently, I can keep a promise to someone else but not myself. An embarrassing lesson, but one I am glad I have learned.
Are you better at keeping promises to yourself or to another person?
