- Arsia Sasha, 30, from California, works in go-to-market strategy and operations
- He shares mindset and productivity optimization tips on TikTok
- In a recent video, he revealed how he broke the habit of picking up his phone
A productivity guru has revealed the ‘scientific brain exercise’ that he used to keep himself from getting distracted by his smartphone.
Arsia Sasha, 30, from California, shares tips on mindset and productivity optimization to help people stay focused and achieve their goals on his TikTok.
The content creator, who works in go-to-market strategy and operations, explained in a recent video that he developed a habit of constantly picking up his phone.
‘Whenever I wasn’t actively working on something, I would just lose my focus entirely, grab my phone, and then I would be derailed for the next 15 or 20 minutes,’ he recalled.
Smartphone use is one of the biggest roadblocks to productivity, but most people feel compelled to pick up their devices throughout the day — even when they know they should be doing something else.
Americans check their phones an average of 144 times a day, according to a recent survey from Reviews.org.
‘What you’re going to notice is that this is pretty much just a habit, which means that this was something that you have ingrained in yourself over and over and over again,’ Arsia said.
‘Typically what happens is that you’re working on something you don’t want to or don’t know how to proceed on.
‘Your brain doesn’t like uncertainty, so it goes, “Uh, uh, what am I going to do now?” Then it sees your phone — dopamine hit.’
Studies have shown that phone activity causes the brain to release dopamine, the feel-good chemical linked to pleasurable activities.
The craving for that dopamine is what keeps you compulsively reaching for your phone, but there is a way to control the urge.
Arsia explained that if you picked up your phone enough to get that reward, it became a knee-jerk reaction that you did without even thinking.
He said there was a ‘scientific brain exercise’ that he now used to keep himself from getting distracted by his phone.
‘The next time you get the urge to grab your phone, you’re going to stop yourself, and you’re going to trick yourself,’ he said.
‘You’re going to tell yourself that you’re going to grab your phone in about five minutes, and then really you just keep working.
‘Because you’ll realize that that urge isn’t that great. You just needed something to get you past this small moment.’
Arsia said that if you did this enough times, you would eventually break your smartphone habit.
‘You get stronger and stronger at building a resistance to just grabbing your phone, and so then, you built a counter habit,’ he concluded. ‘It’s just science.’
