Digital Detox

Over the long weekend I turned off my phone and never looked back.

It wasn’t necessarily intentional. While driving down the coast I was tired of my phone constantly searching for a signal, so I turned it off. It remained off (except to very rarely check the time when I wasn’t near a clock) for the entire weekend.

I’ve known for a while I have some unhealthy habits with my phone. My alarm has barely finished making irritating noises at me in the morning when I’m already on my email. I frequently check my email one last time before bed, ensuring that I can toss and turn for awhile longer than necessary with thoughts of what I need to do the next day or what my boss meant by that last line. If I have a few extra minutes (or seconds) I’m suddenly on my phone without really thinking about it. When I get to the gym I scroll through Instagram while I foam roll.

I think my phone and I need some space.

For the next week (and hopefully longer) I have some new rules for my phone. No checking email before breakfast (ideally not before getting to work, but I always have this tiny hope that I will have an email telling me work is cancelled for the day, and I’m not ready to accept that it’s a delusion). No mindless scrolling through Instagram because I don’t want to be doing whatever I’m supposed to be doing. No more pulling out my phone the second I am left alone with time to spare.

On Monday night I turned my phone back on and proceeded to go through three days worth of my Instagram feed. We can’t win all the time. But for the most part I’ve been sticking to my rules and actually enjoying it.