Are you Addicted?
Dr. Judson Brewer, in his book The Craving Mind, offers this short quiz to see if you are suffering from an addiction (pg 77; this is actually a diagnostic tool from the DSM):
Do you use _____ longer than you mean to?
Do you want to cut down or stop using _____ but not able?
Do you spend a lot of time using, or recovering from using, _____ ?
Do you have cravings or urges to use _____ ?
Do you find yourself not managing to do what you should at work, home, or school because of _____ ?
Do you continue to use _____ even when it causes problems in your relationships?
Do you give up important social, occupational, or recreational activities because of _____ ?
Do you use _____ again and again, even when it puts you in danger?
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Do you continue to use _____ even when you know you have a physical or psychological problem that could have been caused or made worse by it?
Do you need more of _____ to get the effect you want?
Do you develop withdrawal symptoms that can be relived by using _____ more?
In actuality, the subject with which Dr. Brewer is specifically dealing with in that chapter of his book is cell phone usage or more broadly, being addicted to distractions.
Brewer cites a study from 2010 by Matt Killingsworth and Dan Gilbert that found that among 2,200 people, at a random point in their work day, almost 50% of them were off task! But a key finding of their studies is that when happiness was correlated to being on task or off task, people reported being less satisfied with themselves when they were off task! The conclusion of the study was this: “A human mind is a wandering mind, and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind” (84).
The solution to this addiction problem, even being addicted to distractions, is self-control. How often does the Bible emphasize the importance of self-control? The Greek word translated “self-control” among the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23) is used four times in the NT: Acts 24:25; Gal. 5:23; and twice in 2 Peter 1:6.
Self-control means I control myself. It means that if I am doing something sinful, or even thinking about doing something sinful, I get myself back on task. I may even need to physically move myself out of the area of temptation. I pray. I read the Bible. I need to get my mind focused back where it ought to be.
All distractions are not inherently sinful as addictions can be. But, we also need to be productive while we are “on the clock” for the sake of our employer.
Paul Holland
