Why checking your phone first thing in the morning might not be the best for your mental health
I can tell you it wasn’t good for me. Something had to change and I had to do the steps to make it happen.
Emotionally it was making me feel sluggish and anxious. I was always feeling like time had slipped away from me.
For my new year’s resolution in January of 2024, I made the pledge that I would not reach for my phone first thing in the morning because it was adding up to be a time suck and I wanted to set a better intention for the day. I wanted to avoid it for the whole first hour of the day. How could I do this?
Steps for me to break the “first thing in the morning phone habit” were:
- I set my alarm on a clock radio (yes these still exist) or on my Garmin Watch
- I put my phone in a drawer to power up and in “do not disturb” mode from 10 pm-7:30 am (except for phone calls from my son)
- I always wanted to know the weather and to avoid picking up the phone, I learned to ask Alexa, “What is the weather today?”
- I consciously reworked my morning routine. In the winter, I get up and do a short 12-30-minute pilates, yoga, or exercise routine from YouTube. (I walk outside for 4-5 miles when it warms up.) In the summer, I do the walk first thing and the routine later.
- The problem that kept cropping up was that I was missing appointments on my calendar. So I either check my calendar the night before, or look on my Garmin Watch calendar to see my appointments for the day.
I have broken the tether between me and a morning phone habit!
What’s more, I sometimes find myself at my home office desk having forgotten it upstairs. This has brightened my overall outlook for the day.
What one thing will you do for your mental health? What steps will you take to make it happen?
One thing that l will be doing for my mental health is reaching out to grab my Teach Yourself Esperanto books (of which l own many). I have not dipped into these or my other Esperanto books and dictionaries since losing Martin. He encouraged me in learning the language, though he was not into learning it himself. At one stage l was going to sell them but he talked me out of this.
One year, he draw a Giraffe on a home made birthday card that he then wrote his message in Esperanto. I suppose l have avoided this pastime as it made me think too much about our life together.
However, about 6 months back, l found this card, and though it upset me, it likewise rekindled my interest in going back to learn this language.
I like how you combined that to make meaning and to give the exercise of learning esperanto purpose. Thank you so much for sharing, Heath.
I’ve never thought about suicide. It was more like an impulse: anger, sadness, the feeling of having nothing to look forward to or live for. There is not much thinking involved. To be honest, I’d say the simple fear of death has kept me alive. I’m not religious. Out of curiosity I skimmed these posts and found your name frequently. Have you ever sought as much counsel for yourself as you do for others? I doubt many of your peers (who you might see as clients) know anything about your son. I understand your motivation to balance the scales to see yourself as a ‘good’ person but I don’t think that can happen while you dodge the regrets of your own history. I’ve found that emotions have their own levels of understanding. Just like we can learn parts of speech, connotations, or definitions dependent on context. I think you looked for common ground with others suffering loss. I suspect ypu never considered the dynamics of a person who only shares. Anyway I hope you find your peace.
I’m not sure if you are talking to me or Heath. I’m the one who lost my son. Heath lost his long time partner. But I can tell you I definitely sought help for myself and I do know Heath did, too. Writing for both of us is a helpful coping strategy. One of many for me. I can’t list all of Heath’s. That’s his story to tell. But I went to groups, one drop in and one led by a facilitator. And I met with other parents and built a huge toolbox of strategies. This blog is part of that. And my original blog is where it started. Good points, Steve.