Whether we’re checking the weather in Memphis or seeing how many Facebook Likes we got on our latest lame joke, we’re on our smartphones all day long. And our phones are good at keeping it that way.
Say we go to respond to a single email, and the next thing we know we’re checking 306 different Instagram posts, watching videos, clicking to buy, responding to online comments, checking out the latest dogs up for adoption just for the heck of it, or suddenly in the midst of placing a three-page order for more jewelry-making supplies. Sigh.
Putting down our phones forever would certainly cramp our style – not to mention wreck our business and have mom thinking we’re dead when we don’t respond to her text. So we can’t do that. But what about inserting two No Phone Zones into our daily routine?
Welcome to the No Phone Zone
As part of an amazing Master Mind course I’m taking with Sheri Rowland, one of our first homework assignments has been to NOT TOUCH our smartphones right when we get up or right before we go to sleep.
We’ve all probably heard zillions of reasons why it’s best to avoid smartphone use right before bed, and even early in the morning. Reasons typically include:
- The screen’s blue light messes with your melatonin production, which is the lullaby hormone that puts us to sleep
- Random Amber Alerts and other anguish-inducing headlines or messages can put us on edge, making it impossible to get a good night’s sleep or have a good day going forward
- We’ll get pulled into urgent sales and purchases, staying up all night ordering jewelry-making supplies
- We’ll waste oodles of time being dragged down some crazy rabbit hole, making us late for work for the 82nd time and on the verge of getting fired
- We’ll end up living under an overpass once we lose our job, house, credit cards and walk-in closet after we’re late for the 83rd time
Yes, all these reasons are EXCELLENT motivation to put that dang phone down for two daily No Phone Zones. But they really didn’t speak to me beyond a yeah, whatever. And then Sheri mentioned a BIG reason to keep our phones far away right before sleeping or after waking:
The minute you pick up your smartphone, your agenda is in somebody else’s hands.
Eeek! That one hit me in the gut. Think about it. We truly can do what we want when we want – until we pick up our smartphones. Then we’re compelled to answer emails and texts, respond to comments, do a quick check to see what’s going on over on social media or in Memphis – you get the gist.
That convinced me. I’m not one to use the phone right before bed, so that was no problem. But one of my first activities after waking up is to check my phone. Friday, I quashed the urge. Changed my morning schedule. Actually didn’t even PICK UP my phone until I had been awake three whole hours.
Wow. What a glorious, beautiful, do-what-I-want morning I had. And when I did eventually check my phone, guess what? The world wasn’t ending, no URGENT EMERGENCY was waiting, and I had no desire to putter around wasting time.
I had already set my mind in gear to complete several must-do tasks, and they were much more important and meaningful than checking the weather in Memphis – or even ordering jewelry supplies.
Give it a go for yourself. See what happens, and let us know if you love it or what.
What more cool ways to improve your day (and life)? Try Rynski Coaching.
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