Using 'Situation Modification' To Deal With The Harmful Effects Of Cell Phones & Social Media

Angela Duckworth delivered a compelling, useful, and relevant message in her Bates College Commencement address on May 25, 2025, urging the audience to pursue "situation modification," which means "using physical distance to create psychological distance" -- especially the physical distance of our cell phones from ourselves.

Situation modification has science behind it. "Psychologists like me have found that achieving what you want out of life has very little to do with forcing yourself to act in one way or another," Duckworth said. "Successful people...rarely rely on inner fortitude to resist temptations. Instead, they avoid them altogether."

In other words, "successful strivers are exquisitely aware of how the situation shapes their behavior. And they deliberately design their situations in ways that make wise choices easier."

"This is what mindfulness looks like in the digital age," said Duckwork, who is a psychologist, leading voice in the study of human behavior, and author of the New York Times bestseller Grit. "Not willpower, but the wisdom to shape the situations that shape you."

Original YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxVsaNFLEa4

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Six Ideas For Dealing With Your Phone

1. When you need to focus deeply, put your phone in another room

2. When you are feeling awkward, anxious, or bored, get up, walk out the door, and spend time in nature

3. When you are having dinner with people you care about, keep your phone off the table, ideally in a zipped pocket

4. When you are behind the wheel of a car, keep your phone beyond arms reach

5. Don't keep your phone in your bedroom

6. Protect yourself from being bombarded, over-stimulated, and overwhelmed by the opinions of others

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"All nature is doing her best each moment to make us well. She exists for no other end. Do not resist her. With the least inclination to be well, we should not be sick."

-- Henry David Thoreau

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Related Links:

Sunfellow Health & Healing Resource Page
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