Why You Should Put Away Your Phone While Waiting in Line

00:00:00.000 | All right, what do we got here?

00:00:03.000 | Do a couple more questions.

00:00:05.000 | Always check out our time.

00:00:07.000 | Let's do a couple more questions here.

00:00:09.000 | This one comes from Maria.

00:00:11.000 | Maria says, "My goal is to read more.

00:00:14.000 | I replace checking my phone with reading books.

00:00:17.000 | However, with more technical books, it's hard to jump in and out.

00:00:21.000 | So I find I struggle to make progress.

00:00:23.000 | If I only have five to ten minutes, such as waiting in a line,

00:00:26.000 | it takes some time to remember where I left off conceptually

00:00:29.000 | and I have to re-read a couple paragraphs before I know

00:00:32.000 | what specific point is discussed.

00:00:34.000 | And by the time I have caught up, I need to put the book down."

00:00:38.000 | Well, Maria, I like that you are using a higher quality cognitive alternative

00:00:44.000 | to just looking at your phone when you're bored in line.

00:00:47.000 | Reading is a great option.

00:00:50.000 | The solution to your particular issue with this strategy

00:00:53.000 | is don't read highly technical books in this context.

00:00:57.000 | Different activities are better suited for different situations.

00:01:01.000 | So if you're reading in line, novels, as well as episodic

00:01:05.000 | or biographical nonfiction, this is really good for jumping in and out.

00:01:10.000 | I usually have some sort of biographical or episodic nonfiction

00:01:13.000 | I'm listening to on Audible, so I can turn that on when,

00:01:17.000 | "Oh, I need to go, whatever, put my laundry in,"

00:01:20.000 | one of these quick five to ten minute things.

00:01:22.000 | I mean, I find business biographies, for example,

00:01:25.000 | where it's the story of whatever,

00:01:28.000 | "Universal's Rise" or the CBS's "Moment of Success"

00:01:35.000 | during the early 2000s, those are really well suited to jumping in and out

00:01:38.000 | because when I say episodic, I mean they're talking about this show,

00:01:42.000 | they're talking about this thing that happened,

00:01:43.000 | they're talking about that thing that happened.

00:01:44.000 | It's sort of individual stories, you can come in and out,

00:01:46.000 | you don't have to keep up with highly technical things.

00:01:49.000 | Novels can be the same way.

00:01:51.000 | Jump back in into the action, it's interesting until you jump back out.

00:01:56.000 | If you're reading in line, you might also consider

00:01:58.000 | our good friends over at Mouse Books.

00:02:02.000 | This is a product that I like quite a bit.

00:02:05.000 | I've known Brian and Dave in particular for a long time now.

00:02:09.000 | Mouse Books produce these pocket-sized, condensed,

00:02:13.000 | or abridged versions of famous books or short stories.

00:02:16.000 | They look like a Field Notes notebook,

00:02:20.000 | if that's useful.

00:02:21.000 | I think they might use the same printer who does the Field Notes notebooks.

00:02:24.000 | So anyways, it's a little bit smaller than a standard smartphone.

00:02:27.000 | The idea is you can have that in your pocket wherever you have your phone.

00:02:30.000 | So in any instance, when you would pull out your phone,

00:02:32.000 | you pull out a Mouse Book instead.

00:02:35.000 | So I think that's a cool way to have some more erudite exposure

00:02:39.000 | to the world of literature and philosophy while you're waiting in line.

00:02:44.000 | Anyways, good for you.

00:02:45.000 | And the reason why I don't want you to look at your phone in that situation

00:02:47.000 | is not that it's just by default bad.

00:02:50.000 | It's not the phone that is bad.

00:02:52.000 | It is these attention economy companies that dwell on your phone

00:02:56.000 | and can play your brainstem like a harpsichord.

00:03:00.000 | The TikToks of the world, the Instagrams of the world,

00:03:02.000 | the Twitters of the world.

00:03:03.000 | That just gets its hooks into your brain.

00:03:06.000 | That's what I want you to get away from being the default.

00:03:08.000 | So if you're taking out your phone to work on a wordle,

00:03:11.000 | I don't think that's so bad.

00:03:13.000 | But if you're slack jaw, the drool coming down the side

00:03:17.000 | as you're on TikTok videos, not good for you.

00:03:21.000 | [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03:24.360 | (upbeat music)

Why You Should Put Away Your Phone While Waiting in Line | Deep Questions With Cal Newport

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