Katy Bowman

I am the type of person who doesn't want to be addicted to her phone. Except that I totally am. Any time my brain isn't otherwise occupied, I compulsively get my phone out, flip through social media, maybe play a game of solitaire or some Mario Run. And then, later, when I'm running around crazy trying to get things done on time, I wonder where all of my time went.

The worst habits I have had were in the morning. I would always spend more time than I had on my phone before getting up and getting in the shower. And then after my shower I would sit back down on my bed and get back on my phone. It was ridiculous, and I knew it was ridiculous, but I kept doing it anyway.

Last week, though, it occurred to me to do something entirely obvious and yet also a little radical. I moved my phone out of my bedroom. I have a charger in my office and that is where my phone goes now when I go to bed, all the way at the other end of the house. I have an Apple Watch that I was already using as an alarm anyway (and that I keep free of all games and social media).

This is a total first-world problem and I feel silly writing about it, but it has honestly made such a difference not just in my mornings, but in my days as a whole. See, we all know that Twitter is generally a trash fire. There are some bright spots, sure, but by and large it is full of people expressing their Very Important Opinions on the internet. And it was filling my head with all of that first thing every morning. Not the best way to start my day.

For the last week, though, I have been simply getting up and getting ready. I was sick the first couple of days of the week and didn't want to get out of bed right away, but instead of reaching for my phone, I grabbed a book. So much better than Opinions on the internet.

And I feel a lot better. I'm able to get my kids out the door with a little less stress than before, I've been more positive about my day, and the less time I spend flipping through social media, the more impatient I get with it and the less time I actually want to spend time with it.

Sometimes it's the simplest, most obvious things that have the greatest effect.