Years ago, I made a conscious decision to stop watching the news each day. I found that daily consumption of the news, more often than not, made me feel sluggish, angry or sometimes, just downright afraid. I came to the realization that there was a major difference between being informed on what’s happening in the world and becoming so entangled in the messiness that it consumes your thoughts hours or even days later.
Now when I wake up, I ask my Google Nest Mini to tell me the day’s weather and the latest news— to gather a quick and concise snapshot of what’s happening and go about my day. It’s my “in and out” strategy for sanity, helping me establish clear boundaries between my overly active brain and the rest of the world. I truly believe that what you feed your mind, consumes your mind.
I just finished listening to Atomic Habits by James Clear over the weekend (I highly recommend) and it has me questioning some of the less than ideal habits I have when it comes to my phone and social media use. I want to be more deliberate with how and when I use both of these tools. Over the last few years I’ve been quite guarded with the type of content I consume, especially on social media. My feed is a mix of photos of friends, yoga poses, recipes, influencers I find to be positive and inspirational, and of course, funny animal posts. It’s not what I’m consuming that concerns me, rather how frequently I reach for my phone to tune out during the day; the mindless scrolling without intention or the hurriedness I feel when reading a post. I want my time spent, with or without my phone, to be purposeful and intentional.
Over the next month I’m going to play around with different ways to pull back from my phone use. Nothing dramatic — I won’t be locking my phone away or deleting my social media accounts. More like gently setting up clear boundaries for use; turning on iPhone’s Focus Mode during the day and not using my phone after a certain time in the evening. What about you? Do you have any tips for managing your phone consumption use? Go on and share with me below.
Stay Well,
S.
Well Loved 