I have a problem. It turns out that it is probably more serious than I thought or than you might expect. It might actually be an addiction. Also, turns out that many others have this same problem and many worse than I do.

I am addicted to my “smart” phone.

It made a noise – check it. It has a flashing light – check it. It vibrated – check it. It hasn’t done something for a while – check it. I have 3 seconds of free time – definitely check it.

The problem is that this constant checking sends the wrong signal to the people around me, especially those around me often, namely my family. What is so important happening elsewhere in the world that I must remain constantly attached to this phone?

I have devised a strategy to counter this problem. My strategy is to make my phone, for the purposes of serving myself, invisible when I am around others. Yes, invisible!

By “for purposes of serving myself,” I mean that if my wife says “hey, what’s the weather going to be like this afternoon?,” this is a perfectly reasonable time for me to use the functions of my phone. However, if I am at the playground with my daughter and I hear a text message come in or the phone ringing – that other person is going to have to wait. If I suddenly think, “I think the Rangers game started – I wonder if anyone has scored yet?,” I will now wait and check scores later. Ultimately, I want the phone to add value to my life and relationships rather than become a divider – like it has for the past few years. Knowing whether a baseball team in Texas scored by 8PM doesn’t affect that game or my happiness, but it does take me away from prayer time with my daughter as she gets ready for bed.

If I rank my priorities, my career and my favorite sports teams (2 of my favorite uses of my phone) rank somewhere around 5 and 6, maybe even lower. Why do I let them constantly come before my top priorities when they come in the form of flashing lights or buzzing noises coming from an electronic device?

I offer my thoughts as a challenge to you – list your priorities and live them in the proper order. It might be time for you to switch to an invisible phone like me.