Another week, another post in what has now turned into a series of me live-broadcasting my ups and downs while I try and "break up with my phone". If you haven't read Week 1 where I start following the challenge set by Catherine Price in her book "How To Break Up With Your Phone", then be sure to do so before jumping into this past week's happenings. Spoiler alert: it did not go as expected.
Day 8: Say "No" to notifications
Today is all about turning notifications off. Lucky for me, I've implemented this strategy quite a while ago, so it wasn't a big shock to the system. The only notification I have on is for my Email, and although I wasn't expecting it, Price strictly emphasizes that the Email notifications MUST be turned off.
At first, I thought it was strange, why are email notifications put on blast like this? But thinking about it, I guess I can see how people would feel trapped by their email notifications, always feeling like they need to get back to someone even at 9PM. So, I did as suggested and turned off all notifications from my phone (except What'sApp and Viber, which are strictly for work).
Day 9: The life-changing magic of tidying apps
Up next is app categorization. Price recommends placing the most useful tool apps such as camera, photos, banking apps on the homepage, and leaving all other junk apps and slot-machine apps (social media, games, shopping apps) in folders. Truth be told, I will be reorganizing my apps and folders, but I won't be participating in today's challenge as much as Price would like me to because I don't have that many apps on my phone (thank limited phone storage for that).
Day 10: Change where you charge it
I knew this day would eventually come, and I guess I need to tackle it head-on. As I said in the first post in this series, my phone is the last thing I see when I go to bed, and the first thing I see when I wake up. Of course, this comes with its own set of habits that are now a regular part of my nighttime and morning routine: I cannot fall asleep unless I'm listening to a podcast, or a Youtube video is playing in the background. I find that I easier fall asleep to sounds as opposed to dead silence. Same with waking up, I need a sudden blast of information (mostly from Instagram) to jolt me up from bed. So, if I'm changing up my charging spot, as Price suggests, I guess that makes these activities a thing of the past.
I'll report back tomorrow with my thoughts after my first phone-free night in a while.
Day 11: Set yourself up for success
So, about last night. It was very strange to charge my phone across the room and I was at first scared that I would not hear my alarm (irrational fears thanks to addiction working overtime here). All in all, it was definitely a change, and even though I was tired, I still was tossing and turning for a good half an hour because I am not used to sleeping in total silence. I did get a nice full 8-hour sleep though, so that was great.
In regards to today's prompt, I totally failed. I usually read the prompts first thing in the morning, but today I was literally running all over the place from morning until evening and had no time (nor did I remember) to check the challenge for today. And not only that, but when I returned home, I completely fell off the bandwagon and spent the entirety of my evening on my phone. So, yeah, today was a bust.
The prompt is all about setting yourself up for success i.e. filling your environment with positive triggers that inspire you to do something else rather than reaching for your phone.
Day 12: Download an app-blocker
Okay, things are getting a bit more extreme now. Price recommends downloading an app blocker (which up until this point, I didn't even know was a thing) to set up times when you want to physically block access to specific apps. So, for me, I know that I reach for my phone right before bed and when I wake up. So, I will be activating this blocker thingy to "turn off" apps such as Instagram, Youtube, What'sApp, and Viber an hour before I go to bed, and for half an hour when I wake up.
Day 13: Set boundaries
Today I am asked to set boundaries with my phone, and the way of doing that is by creating "no-phone zones". So, for example, a no-phone zone would be the dining table, where some people (aka, me) might tend to use their phones. So, I guess that's what I'll be setting today: a bunch of no-phone zones such as the dining table and my work desk. At the moment, these are the only two options I can think of that can do better without my phone being involved. I would love to come out more mindful and focused at the end of this experiment, so I think this will do me well in the long run.
Day 14: Stop phubbing
Phubbing (phone snubbing, i.e. redirecting your attention from other people in a social setting to your phone) is something I've always detested. So, today's prompt basically reinforced my efforts to not let my phone get in the way of actual conversations with actual people. Phubbing is something a lot of people do unintentionally as a reflex, but I've always tried to stay clear of doing that as I find it really impolite.
Second Week Wrap Up:
Honestly, I wouldn't say the practices implemented this week were ones that really stuck. I think that's partly due to the fact that some of the challenges were things I'm already doing (tidying apps, turning off notifications, not phubbing, etc), but also due to the fact that things such as putting my phone in a different room during the evening are a radical change I'm not really willing to make at the moment. So, I'd say this week was half successful, as I've really tried my best to minimize the time spent on my phone, but I haven't really taken in the challenges properly. Hopefully, this next week will make me more excited to try new approaches when it comes to my phone usage.
Let's see what next week brings us, shall we?
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