The Steps I'm Taking To Stop Feeling Like Pavlov's Dog in Midlife (Simple Saturdays)

Episode 50 | (00:10):
Hey there, friend, welcome to Simple Saturdays. A few months ago, I realized I was starting to feel like Pavlov's dog. Now, if you remember, Pavlov was a scientist who conditioned a dog to salivate every time it heard a bell. Basically, the dog hears the bell, he salivates. Or in my case, Michelle hears the bell, she grabs her phone.

(00:37):
Yes, every time I heard a notification that I got a text, I picked up my phone. Both the dog's behavior and my behavior are conditioned responses. I started thinking, "You know, I've turned off everything else on my phone and my laptop. I've turned off all the notifications for emails, for social media, and for those annoying apps that just seem to beep at random times."

(00:58):
At that time, I had no audio notifications coming at me other than for texts and, of course, phone calls. I started thinking about how to get out of this Pavlovian loop that I had put myself in.

(01:11):
And I was thinking, "I only check my email twice a day, and I've been doing that for many, many years. What if I turn off the text notifications and only check them twice a day?" 

(01:21):
I got really excited because I realized how deliciously quiet my life was going to become. So a couple of months ago, I turned off the audio text notifications as an experiment. You know what I've realized? I've realized that I'm missing absolutely nothing!

(01:35):
My texts still get answered in a timely way. Twice a day, I grab my cup of coffee and I sit down for 15 or 20 minutes. Now, I really enjoy the texts. I'm actually giving more quality time to these texts, and I feel like I'm giving my friends and family significantly more of me than just trying to answer quickly so I can move to the next thing.

(01:59):
I'm less distracted by all those noises coming at me. This is noise that I have no control over other than turning the apps completely off. And y'all, I love this feeling so much that I even ordered a sand timer off of Amazon. They come in different time increments, but I ordered the 30-minute one.

(02:16):
So when I start to work, I turn the sand timer over. And when I see that the last grain of sand has gone through it, I'm done. I don't have any beeps or chimes or pings or dings or any of that. It's really refreshing.

(02:30):
Now I will tell you, I still use Alexa as my timer when I'm in the kitchen because I generally have my hands full and it's much easier just to yell at her from across the house. ;)

(02:42):
But here's my question for you: Are the pings and the dings and the buzzers making you feel distracted and unsettled? If so, maybe it's time for you to try your own experiment. Remember, this is Easy Aging® and we do fun-sized actions. We take little baby steps.

(02:58):
So if every notification on your phone is on, maybe take just one little app that you don't use much, turn it off and give it a shot. I realize some people use email and text for their work. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about your notifications for your own personal use, okay?

(03:15):
If you get to a point where I am, where everything's turned off, the only noise that's coming at you is when the phone rings. And seriously, how many phone calls are you getting these days? So take some time this weekend to think about if you want to give this try or not.

(03:31):
If you're not part of the Facebook group, Easy Aging® for the Baby Boomer and Gen X Years, come on over, join the group and let me know how your experiment goes.

(03:43):
That's it for today. Have a fantastic weekend. I'll see you in the next episode and until then peace, love and blessings to you and yours. Take care. Bye-bye!