Hello friend, this is an episode of Note to Self, but from when we used to be called New Text City.

Same good content, just the old name. Enjoy.

Hello, please state your name after the tone and Google Voice will try to reach New Text City.

The relationship between a baby and a teddy bear or a baby and a binky or a baby that wants its mother's cradle when it's done with being held by a stranger.

That's the relationship between me and my phone.

I think of my phone like a power tool. Extremely useful, but dangerous if I'm not handling it properly.

If I don't pay close attention, I'll suddenly realize that I've lost an hour of time doing something totally mindless.

I think I treat my phone as sort of this like friend, like a best friend who has all of the best and worst qualities.

I'm sort of passive and let this friend take the reins. They'll run away with me and distract me and make my life crazy.

From WNYC, this is New Text City, where digital gets personal. I'm a new summer Odie.

You just heard listeners Jeremy Kelly, Jesse, Battleanna and Jack Smith all talking about how they feel about their phones.

And for many of us, that relationship has gotten so freaking emotional, intense, tangled, sometimes even torturous.

I've found that every moment I get on the subway standing in line just after I put the kids to bed.

What do I do? I fill every crack in my day. When I use to space out, I look at my phone, usually playing my game of choice, two dots on the slide.

And in fact, when I think about it, since 2008, when I first got a smartphone, I have never had to be bored.

Seven years later, I'm starting to find that disconcerting. Am I missing out on something by not being bored anymore?

The episode is about the answer I found and the challenge that it led me to. And it might lead you to it as well or someone you know who feels emotional about their phone.

To kick off my journey, I went and searched for someone who could tell me what is going on in our brains when we do nothing, when we are bored. And I found the perfect guy.

It's weird because basically I just studied it right from the beginning of my scientific career, really.

Oh, I love that sexy Scottish brogue.

Cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jonathan Smallwood is one of the preeminent researchers on what's called mind wandering.

And he kindly fit in a phone call with me before making dinner at his home in the UK.

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