Our phones are portals. On the other side of the black mirror, our social and dating lives, our business commitments and our vast arrays of entertainment options burble and chirp and ding in constant demand of our undivided attention, and we generally oblige. It’s reported that the average American checks their phone 46 times per day.
This is one way to use a phone: to follow its schedule; play by its rules; keep it off silent. However, there are other ways too. If what’s draining about constant mobile use is the notion that we have no choice but to give in – and it is – then the best way to set one’s digital chakras back in alignment is to put aside at least a few minutes of every day in which you use the phone for a predetermined activity. In this manner, the portal becomes something you enter willingly rather than something you are dragged through, and you once again become the driver in the journey of your own life, for which a mobile, now, is a necessity.
Although it might seem strange, this idea of bringing choice and control back into your relationship with your mobile can be most easily achieved by choosing to play a game that we like for short bursts, whenever we feel like it but at least once a day.
Often we play games when we are bored or as a form of procrastination. Or even because we’ve already invested in the game financially and now feel as though it would be wasteful not to play the game occasionally, even if we do not enjoy it – all of these are bad reasons to play.
To play in a way that will help you rebalance your and your phone’s relationship, you must set aside a small portion of the day for gaming and during that time pursue the game’s objectives ruthlessly and with your full attention. To begin with, casino games such as those developed in-house exclusively for mFortune are a great focal point for this new approach to mobile gaming. The real financial stakes and short game rounds make this choice a good fit for this type of approach – plus they’re available on the vast majority of99% of all mobile and tablet devices.
Of course there are other options and game genres. But make sure to pick games that are to your liking and can be played in short bursts. The reward of playing in this fashion is that it returns the phone to a subordinate position: it becomes the tool with which you access the game of your choosing for the duration of your choosing rather than the demanding alarm that rings for you all day. This is much more nourishing than just something to do when just bored or looking for a distraction.
Underpinning this approach is mindfulness, which is a practice developed from Buddhist meditation and has since developed in much of the Western World. To attain a truly mindful enlightenment, practitioners are asked to clear their mind and merely sit for hours, until a gong is struck. If you are shocked by the gong strike you have retreated into your own thoughts, and so have not cleared your mind. If, on the other hand, you register the noise as an inconsequential change in your environment, then you are shown to be truly present.
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When focusing on the game of your choosing, your task is similar to that of the mindfulness practitioner. By focusing on the game and only the game, you are detangling the web of connections between your subconscious drives – boredom, anxiety, etc – and the phone, and forging a connection with your conscious, present mind. In this way you and your phone’s bond is “reset”, allowing for a more pleasant relationship to develop.
