Marketing Made Easy for HR Consultants

Your Phone Is Poisoning Your Mind. Here’s the Antidote.

Nick Poninski

If you’ve ever reached the end of the day and thought, “What did I even do today?” — this episode is for you.

Because whether you realise it or not, your phone is stealing your time, your focus, and your confidence.

And if you don't get intentional about it, your business (and your wellbeing) will suffer.

In this short, no-fluff episode, I’ll unpack:

📱 The shocking stats behind how much time we actually waste on our phones.
🧠 Why overuse leads to procrastination, low concentration, and poor self-esteem.
🍩 A simple analogy to help you see the damage it’s doing.
💡 The free app I recommend to start taking control back today.

It’s time for a digital detox. And this is your first step.


Want My Help to Build Your £70K+ HR Consultancy?

1️⃣ Grab a copy of my book – The Complete Guide to Building a £70K HR Consultancy – and discover how to get every lead and client you need.

2️⃣ Apply to Join The Fastlane Formula – so we can work together 1-to-1 to get you earning £70K+ faster (and easier) than going it alone.


0:01 Hello there! Welcome back to another episode of Sunday Sessions with me, Nick Poninski. Today's message, time is precious, and your phone is stealing more of it than you might think.
0:13 Now you probably already know that, but what you might not know is that your phone is stealing more than just your time.
0:20 In fact, as we will soon see, it is destroying your productivity. It's rewiring your brain and it's lowering your confidence, so let's fix it.
0:34 I get into today's episode I want to share a couple of stats with you. These might be eye-opening. Did you know that the average adult spends four hours a day on their phone?
0:45 Four hours. Let me say that again. The average adult spend four hours a day on their phone which over the course of a year full days 60 full days over the course of a year that is a sixth of the year just spend tapping away on the phone it's crazy as I was saying earlier phone usage doesn't just steal
1:10 your time though it impacts as negatively in a further three ways. First up it really hinders our work productivity. I think we've all been there where we've got a job to do but it's easier to just pull out the phone and flick through and get those little dopamine hits, right?
1:30 Watch those cat videos and flick through Facebook or Instagram or whatever. So rather than getting the job done which we know has to be done and we'll still be waiting for us whether or not we complete it immediately or three hours later it's still going to need to be done and our phone usage destroys
1:52 our we start to procrastinate more because it's easier to just flick up on the phone and flick through a bit of Facebook or Instagram.
2:04 Another way that our phone hinders us and our progress through distraction. Our phone weakens our ability to get any deep work done so that means rather than focusing for an hour hour and a half on a piece of key that will really drive the business forward.
2:25 We think about what's happening on Facebook or Instagram and then we flick it open and instead of focusing for 90 minutes or so on that key piece of work, what we find that we're doing is 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes of work and then flick it open on Facebook or Instagram.
2:43 way that our phone limits our ability to do deep work is because we're so used to two, three, two, three minute videos, whatever it is, you know, these reels.
2:56 So our brain starts to latch onto the fact that it only needs to concentrate for two or three minutes at a time.
3:03 So rather than doing an hour's solid work, which is what we used to be able to do because we didn't have these little dopamine hits in the palm of our hands.
3:13 We used to be able to concentrate for a lot longer but nowadays because of phone usage our concentration levels are shrinking.
3:21 We are used to watching 2 or 3 minute videos and that limits our ability to focus on key tasks and get more done.
3:30 way that our phones impact us negatively is because of comparison. So we'll be flicking through on Instagram or Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever and we see these posts where people are achieving great things and it makes us compare ourselves to them.
3:46 We think they're doing so well. How come I'm not doing so well? And that comparison, that is the thief of joy.
3:54 We look at what they're doing and we want what they have. We wonder why we are not achieving as much as they're achieving, but the reality is, all we're seeing is they're highlight real.
4:05 We're not seeing what goes on behind the scenes. Equally damaging because we're looking at what everyone else is doing and what everyone else is is achieving.
4:12 We're not focusing on what we've done, what we've achieved. And these are great things as well. So by comparing ourselves every two minutes, what we're actually doing is not focusing on the fact that we are doing great things too.
4:26 So I guess the calling message that I want you to take away is just because using your phone feels harmless it doesn't mean it is and I want to give you an analogy to bring this to life for you.
4:37 We can all agree that high volume low nutrient food isn't good for us. It makes us feel low and well, it makes us feel overweight, it makes us feel sluggish.
4:48 even end up with heart disease or diabetes. Well, it's the same with phone usage, getting high volume, low nutrient content.
4:57 And makes our minds distracted, and emotionally bloated. what we end up with is diabetes of the brain. addicted to those little dopamine ask yourself, or even better check, how long are you spending on your phone and what's the damage it's causing to you?
5:16 I bet you use your phone way more than you actually think you've been. The good news is that there's a solution.
5:23 It's an app called Stay Focused. You can get it on both Android and on Apple and it's free. Obviously you have to pay for a few upgrades So you're in there, I think it's less than £10 to get the upgrades.
5:37 completely worth it, I've done it. way the app works, it intervenes when you've used your phone for too long. So whether it's an app or a website, you set the phone up to have limits on how long you can access that website or that app.
5:53 when you breach those limits, the app steps in and says, no more. also set a bedtime on your phone. So for me, 9pm until 9am the phone is locked.
6:05 I'm not allowed to sit there and mess around with YouTube or whatever. 9pm is time to start getting ready for bed, time to start reading my book, time to relax.
6:14 I don't want my phone distracting me. I think we've all been there as well where we've walking up during the night, ended up messing around on YouTube or Instagram or whatever for half an hour and hour before you know it.
6:28 There's no time for sleep, you've got to get up for work. Well this app stay focused puts an end to that.
6:36 Now just to calm your fears you can white list certain apps so that they can be used no matter whether or not your phone is locked.
6:45 So between 9pm and 9am when my phone is locked I can still people, I can still access WhatsApp, I can still go on my emails if I want to.
6:54 All that good stuff. want you to know I'm not getting any kickbacks from stair focus, they're not going to send me a 50p and a chump by through the post.
7:03 this is just me sharing a simple tactic with you because I think it's easy to say oh yeah I'm going to be more disciplined with my phone but it's another thing to actually put something in place that makes you more disciplined and I think that's easier that way right we need more systems we need better
7:23 systems and less trying to focus on discipline. been useful for you. Thank you for taking the time to listen and as ever because it's brush the change because how we change is how we grow.

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