First, watch this video at Mindfulco

First, I applaud the author of this video for at least making the attempt to discover what keeps him from being productive, and course-correcting. That's really important.

However, I'll submit that it isn't the phone that's the main problem. Sure, smartphones are seductive in being able to make folks want to check their e-mail, stock prices, and twitter feeds at inappropriate times (lord knows I've been caught with my pants down on this issue many times), but that's not a problem that's exclusively the problem with smartphones. I can guarantee that in a month's time, the author will be making a similar video that something else has taken the place of the smartphone.

So what is the big problem?

The biggest problem is our fear of being bored.

I noticed recently when JoDee asked me to watch something on the stove while she was away for a bit. So, I stood there, and watched. And watched.

And immediately my mind raced to find something to do to be more productive.

I could read a book while watching the stove. I could bring in the laptop and talk online. I could even tweet about me watching something on the stove, and watch the responses in real time.

Anything but be just concentrating on the stove, watching whatever magical machinations were taking place there.

And that's really the crux of the problem. We have so many ways to be entertained, enlightened, and entranced that we no longer need to be bored. Could you imagine sitting at the doctor's office for 20 minutes without a TV, magazine, or personal reading device of choice at hand? I think you just went into cold sweats thinking about it. What if the doctor's office just had a chair and blank walls, and no cell coverage. Would you be able to handle it? Would you go insane?

We plan our lives around not being bored. We carry around smartphones, books, magazines, e-readers, etc., just on the off-chance that we may have an extra 10 minutes of time. And that's not necessarily a bad thing if you know what you're doing and are aware that you have permission to not do any of it. making the most of your time is productive.

Just be mindful that it's OK to be bored.