Mindfulness and technology

Most of us use technology on autopilot. How often do we break off what we are doing to check a message or scroll through a feed without really meaning to? Research suggests we glance at our phones dozens of times a day. All those small interruptions make it harder to focus, to learn, and to hold things in memory, which can leave us feeling scattered and frustrated.

Technology also blurs the line between work and home. That familiar notification ping can make it genuinely hard to switch off and rest. Engaging with it more mindfully is one of the more practical things we can do for our mental health. Here are a few places to start.

Managing email

Email can quietly eat the working day. Studies suggest it takes us more than a minute to refocus after each check, which makes work feel more tiring and disjointed than it needs to.

• Stop checking constantly. Pick set times to deal with email, say mid-morning and mid-afternoon, rather than every hour. Almost anything truly urgent will reach you by phone.
• Triage as you go. When you open an email, ask whether it needs a reply today or this week, and schedule the less urgent ones. It helps you focus on what actually matters.

Managing group chats

A busy group chat can feel like an all-day meeting with no agenda. The more it pings, the more easily it feeds a fear of missing out, and the pressure to always be present can leave us anxious and drained.

• Mute a chat when it starts to overwhelm you.
• Keep to a rhythm: check the busier groups once a day rather than reacting to every message.
• Be selective. The smaller the group, the better. Make sure everyone in it actually benefits from being there.

Managing the apps on your phone

Smartphones have become hard to do without, and they are also a major source of distraction. The encouraging part is that depending on something is not the same as being addicted to it.

Delete the apps you rarely use. Ask which ones genuinely serve you and which simply pull at your attention. If an app routinely makes your heart sink, like a feed that leaves you comparing yourself to others, it may be time to unfollow or remove it. Keep what supports the life you want.

It can help to sort your apps into three groups:

• Tools that help you get everyday things done, such as maps, ride-hailing and to-do lists.
• Apps that encourage what you want more of, such as meditation, exercise, reading or podcasts.
• Apps that are easy to get lost in, such as email and social media.

Then adjust your notification settings so you receive fewer, only the ones that matter. A useful test: if you were with your family, which notifications would you actually need? Probably not your latest likes.

Technology is a double-edged sword. It puts the world at our fingertips, and it places real demands on our attention. As the psychologist Adam Grant puts it, "success and happiness belong to people who can control their attention." So it is worth asking: what do you want to focus on, and how can you engage with technology in a way that helps you get there?