Frank R.You’ve just woken up. You didn’t sleep that well because of that odd dream you had about lobster mailmen trying to claw their way into your PO box. Why did they want to get into my mail? Did I get sent a package of fish recently? Regardless of the crustacean-laden dreams you had last night, your first inclination when you wake up is still to reach for your phone. It’s time to check your email, texts, phone calls, notifications, if there are any lobster mailmen near you, etc. Anything you can think of — search results, funny videos, news stories, or oversized ocean bugs — are there waiting for you on your smartphone. That is why it is so tempting, yet so bad for you, to grab that phone at the start of your day and just start scrolling. If anything, you are going to want to do anything you can to stay off your phone first thing in the morning. If you can resist the temptation to grab that sucker and start Googling, then you can lead a more productive, and happy day. Here is how I stay off my phone in the morning, and why you should too.
Why It’s Important to Stay Off Your Phone in the Morning
What you do each morning helps to shape your productivity and mood for the rest of the day. If you check your phone first thing in the morning and see a negative news story, some hurtful social media content, or a message from someone we just don’t like, it can start our day off on the wrong foot. There are also issues like lost productivity (all of those minutes spent doomscrolling in the morning seriously add up), the impact of blue light exposure on your eyes, and a warped sense of daytime priorities. By not checking your phone, you can avoid that negativity and get cracking on a properly wonderful morning.
Blue Light
Another problem with checking your phone in the morning is the issue of blue light. Blue light makes up about a third of the visual spectrum, and while it is mostly harmless in small doses, it can wreak havoc on your eyeballs if taken in at large enough doses. While the sun is the largest producer of blue light here on Earth, it is far away, and the closer a source of blue light (like your smartphone screen, for example) is to your vulnerable little face, the more harmful it can be. In fact, excessive blue light exposure can lead to higher risks of certain chronic diseases and health problems, like heart disease and obesity. So, the next time you are thinking of doomscrolling on your phone in the morning, remember the toll it takes on your health.
Losing Your Productivity
We all have things to do in the morning. We need to get ready for work — getting all dressed up and groomed — and make sure we are mentally prepared for it as well. We need to get ourselves a nice breakfast; if that makes preparing yourself something in the morning, that is a small timesink right there. What we don’t have to do in the morning is mindlessly scroll through our social media feeds until we have lost faith in humanity and precious time that we could have spent doing just about anything else (and whatever we would have spent that time on would have probably served us better than scrolling on our phones).
How to Stay Off Your Phone in the Morning
If you are wanting to avoid using your smartphone first thing in the morning, then there are a few methods and strategies you can use. For one thing, charging your phone in a different room than the one you sleep in can work wonders. Not having the ability to scratch that doomscrolling itch can be the difference between a productive morning and a wasted one. Also, using apps that lock down your phone until a certain time of day can also help. Even placing the phone in a drawer until you are ready to prepare for the day can be enough to keep your temptations at bay. I have tried all three, and personally, not having my phone charging in the same room can help me both getting to sleep at night and getting ready in the morning.
