Oh, now, you may have heard of the phrase (from Socrates) “The unexamined life is not worth living” eh ? 🧐
Earlier I commented on an online article concerning how our Attention Span seems to have “suffered” in recent times and perhaps looking into some Meditative practice may help improve one’s Focus or Concentration (link below) … but is there a difference between secular meditation and Buddhist meditation and if so why ?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/mind/improve-attention-span-without-er-saying (Today : 8th January 2022) [1]
Ah, from a non-Buddhist perspective, “you” are an entity with free-will, self-determination, a thinker, a chooser and a do-er eh ? Thus to undertake some form of Meditation is a Cognitive Task, in the belief it could improve your Mental Clarity whereas from a Buddhist perspective, I’d say, such an Entity (as the ‘self’) is actually just the production of subconscious dynamics designed to ensure its [the Organism’s] Survival eh ? #Anatta
As a non-Buddhist, it is likely you feel the “urge” to check your Smartphone every now-and-then, as if, it seems, by your own conscious decision, as in, “it” momentarily-occurs-to-you however it is my contention that each such moment of “choosing to check your mobile” is really the end-point of a whole long process of subconscious dynamics without the least amount of conscious thought or awareness … it merely seems “as if” you thought “it” eh ?
Therefore, practicing non-Buddhist meditation will certainly bring to your Attention all heretofore Unconscious “urges” but it will not, I suggest, shed-any-light upon the nature of the “one” who is attempting to bring “relief” to their Mental Well-being eh ?
Consequently, this is why in my comment to the article above I suggest it is better to simply delete the Apps that are endlessly calling for your Attention instead of attempting to ameliorate such Distractions by learning some form of Meditation with the (mistaken) notion it may somehow help eh ? 🧐
[1] Here’s an archive of the entire article, © The Telegraph : https://archive.is/wip/hYenw
Oh, for an interesting short video showing how Decisions appear as the “end product” of a series of prior Subconscious Dynamics, please see : The Illusion of Free Will (January 2020)