A Habit That Has Worked Well For Me This Summer
At the beginning of summer, I mentioned that one of my biggest goals was to keep my phone use under control.
This is REALLY challenging for me and it takes constant recommitment on my part.
So I’m always looking for things that help make it a little easier for me.
A few weeks into summer, I suddenly had the thought, “What if I didn’t look at my phone at all in the morning until I started working at 9 a.m.?”
And it’s been SO great.
I already have switched to not charging my phone in my bedroom when I go to bed (I either charge it in my office or in my bathroom), so I was in the habit of not looking at my phone first thing in the morning anyway.
But it was very easy for me to quickly check Instagram DMs while I waited for the girls to get ready to go to swim team or open my inbox for one second before I started my workout (which turned into 10 minutes or 15 minutes).
Using my phone first thing slowed down every aspect of my morning – I’d get distracted while I was getting dressed or doing my hair or makeup.
It’d slow me down getting my breakfast made and getting the dishwasher unloaded.
I was distracted as my girls were getting up and ready for the day (which I really didn’t want since I was prepping to lock myself in my office to work for 4 hours).
I could EASILY put in 30-60 minutes of phone usage before my work day really even started. When my goal is to keep my total phone usage under 4 hours (and really more like 3 hours), this was a bad way to begin.
Plus, starting the day with a massive influx of input from other people (emails, DMs, comments, other people’s IG or blog posts etc) meant my brain was going crazy right from the get go.
I asked myself, “Is there anything absolutely pressing that requires me to open my phone before 9 a.m.?” And the answer for me was clearly no.
If any texts or calls had come in, I could see them on my lock screen, so I wasn’t going to miss anything there.
And no emails or DMs required that I look at them while I was trying to make my bed or put away my Monday grocery order.
Once I made a firm commitment that I wouldn’t open my phone before I sat down at my desk, it felt like my mornings were 1000x times easier.
I had plenty of time to get ready and help the girls out and get the housework done before I started work.
I felt less frantic and rushed and distracted.
It’s been the best change to my daily routine and I definitely plan to keep it up once school ends.
(Every now and again, there’s a minor exception like when I realize I forgot to book a seat in a Spin class and need to quickly open the app to grab a spot before I leave for the gym or the girls ask me to play some music from Spotify on the way to swim team but that takes about 90 seconds and I’m steadfast in not opening Instagram or my email or anything else).
Have you tried something like this? I’d love to hear what works for you!
I think this is super beautiful. I have found I have a very fine line between all or nothing for my phone. I talk to my children openly about why phones are addicting and am always looking for ways to make it less appealing. For me how to balance the convenience with also looking up/looking at things that aren’t that important or necessary at that time. Any suggestions are appreciated!
I had a friend that would wonder something out loud, and then in the moment when you would typically google it, she’s say “Nope, let’s just wonder about it like we did in the 80s!”. Made me laugh at the time, but I’ve totally pulled the line on my kids because sometimes being curious is enough!