By Sam Grisdale
Hands up who’s guilty of playing on their phone whilst having a conversation with someone; or scrolling through social media as soon as they wake up in the morning; or even performed a gymnastics performance to the other side of the room where your phone is charging after a notification ping has just gone off? Guilty as charged your honor. I sentenced myself to five days without social media. The FOMO made me anxious. Genuinely. Here’s what I learned…
1. I Had Time For Breakfast
Yes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you and I are both aware of this. BUT, most mornings I just never seemed to have enough time to fit it in before I had to rush out the door.
This week, instead of scrolling aimlessly through Instagram looking at what other people were eating for breakfast, I decided to spend this time making my own breakfast every.single.morning. It made me more alert, less sleepy and A LOT less hangry throughout the day.
2. I Was More Productive
At work, simply knowing my phone was at home on my bedside table seemed to spur me along and get lots of odd jobs done without pausing every hour to check my messages. Model colleague right here.
In home life, the boyf and I try to do 50-50 with the household chores. This week though, I bossed the lot and I felt so positive and productive keeping busy and looking after ourselves and our home.
3. My Brain Wasn’t Fried
Is anyone else familiar with the fuzzy head that coincides with the daily social scroll? I tried to read more to help relax my mind during any downtime which resulted in one of the best weeks of sleep I’ve had in ages. Surprising considering it was the first week back at work after the holidays!
4. I Communicated More
I was actively present in conversations instead of staring at my phone; I was aware of what was going on around me and I genuinely feel my lack of phone usage brought me closer and more connected to my loved ones.
5. I Didn’t Actually Miss Out On Anything Important
As I was talking with the boyf and chatting about the challenge I’d set myself, he was watching a video on Snapchat of a man having a cyst squeezed that he’d had on his back for over 30 years. I think that alone sums this point up.
Ok, ok, ok. All that being said, I’ll be honest and say I didn’t stick to the detox 100%. FIVE DAYS IS A LONG TIME PEOPLE.
However, it has put into perspective just how many times a day I instinctively picked up my phone for ‘the scroll’ without giving it much thought, and that is something that I really want to alter this coming year.
I’ve already downloaded the Moment App which calculates how much time you actively spend on your phone, and also breaks the time down by each apps usage. It’s given me some surprising results already…
The 2017 Motto: Less Scrolling, More Living.
