You walk slower when you’re looking at your phone. It’s a fact. Walking the streets of Manhattan. Trying to get across a crowded subway platform or train station. Walking down the hall in the office. You walk slower when you’re looking at your phone.

So what are you looking at? Is it really that important? And what are you missing? Who’s way are you in and who are you blocking? Who’s behind you desperately trying to get by as you meander along? FYI, I refer to people walking while staring at their phones as “meanderthals.”

Now besides slowing me down, you’re slowing yourself down as well and you’re the one missing everything going on around you. You’re not just depriving me of my cardio New York speed walk but you’re depriving yourself. But this is not just a rant about people walking while talking on their phones though I’m sure there are plenty of you who’ll chime in with your own complaints. (I’m guessing I may get more comments on this post than many others.)

Whatever’s happening on your phone (cat videos?) is probably less important than something else you can be doing. What other distractions are you looking at when you need to be focusing on the really important people or things? Don’t let yourself get slowed down by staring at the unimportant things in life. Put down your “phone,” whatever that is, and look at the sky, the beautiful buildings and where you’re going. Because you’re going to get there a lot faster if you’re not looking at all the shiny things, screens, squirrels and countless distractions today’s world throws in your path.

What are you looking at?