Love/Hate Relationship

Most of us have a love-hate relationship with our phones. Our phones are powerful tools. They allow us to communicate with loved ones, make it easy to access the information that we need to train, and allow us to work on-the-go. At the same time, we often feel overwhelmed by our screens and have a hard time looking away when we want to focus on other things.

The other day, I arrived at the gym for an early-morning session. I had put a lot of effort into packing my gym bag the evening before and waking up with enough time to train before work. As I walked in the door, I flipped open the app that I use to log my training. At the same time, an alert popped up to let me know that I was tagged on social media. I didn’t mean to open it, but before I knew it, I had spent ten minutes of my precious climbing time scrolling through posts and stories from friends and other climbers. 

I felt ashamed that I hadn’t been able to resist the temptation of my phone’s distractions, but as I looked around the gym, I realized that I was not alone. More than half the climbers in the gym were looking at their screens rather than the wall, missing out on valuable social learning or planning time on their rest periods (or extending their rest periods to accommodate another reel). If screen-shaming worked, we would probably all have better discipline around our devices, but unfortunately, most of us are not consciously aware of our decisions to get sidetracked.

So what do we do about it?

Developing awareness around our distractions can create space for us to make choices based on our values. Often, we are looking at our screens without making the choice to do so. So how do we build awareness?

One way is to track the number of times that we get distracted.

Before your training session, decide what is a “distraction.” For some, this might be looking at emails or text messages during a session. For others, those might be necessary due to work or family commitments, but social media might be a distraction. You might even choose a single app to track during the session that is usually the main distraction for you. Then, using a pen and paper (not a list on your phone!), tally the number of times that you click on that distraction, even if it is just for a moment. 

Practcing Noticing

It’s possible that making this list will be enough to discourage distractions. If you’re like me, though, it’s more likely that you will habitually click on the distraction without noticing. Each time that this happens, do your best to be understanding as you make the tally mark. Again, this isn’t about screen-shaming, but about creating space for a choice.

Once you’ve practiced noticing, you can start to decide whether you would like to follow through with the distraction or choose another behavior that fits your intentions for the session. You might choose something else to focus on each time, such as mapping the route or watching another person complete a problem. You might choose to write a reflection about how the session is going. The replacement focus works best when it is something that brings your attention back to climbing, which is what you intended to be focusing on during the session.

Over time, notice if it becomes easier to notice. Developing awareness of your phone use can be an easy way to practice the skill of noticing, which will be a resource for mental training in all areas of climbing and life.