My Experience Breaking a Smart Phone Habit
The habit that I chose to break was being on my phone right before bed. I find it very easy to listen or watch content on my phone until I’m just about to fall asleep. I believe that this is a bad use of my time. I would rather spend my time journaling or reading before bed. To begin I would need to get a physical distance between myself and my phone at least half an hour before going to bed. Or to put it better. I would like to read or journal for half an hour before bed. I started by charging my phone away from myself at night. I found it difficult to not check my phone right before bed. That made me realize that I was compulsively seeking something from my phone. Even as I write this I am looking around for my phone. I don’t know who texted me, or what notifications may be waiting for me, I suppose that’s the appeal of it. The mystery of what could be. Most of the time there is nothing waiting for me. And even when there is, almost none of it needs to be taken care of right that moment.
Realizing that I don’t owe any real urgency to messages on my phone was a large step in this process. Another huge help was getting an E reader for myself. I was able to download a good size collection of books that interest me. I started reading before bed nearly a month ago and In that time I finished 3 books. (The Old Man and The Sea, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Prometheus Rising). In between reading I take breaks to make notes about what I’m reading or to write about my day. This has helped me immensely in taking time off my phone.
I still have days where I’m on my phone right before sleep, but since I’ve started to make an effort it has been getting better. The next step I want to take is ditching the smartphone. I’d like to have a more simple phone to clear out the clutter having a smart phone brings to my life. One main reason I choose not to get rid of it is the convenience of communication it brings. I speak to my closest friends daily over the phone. We send each other posts online, have large discussions, or just greet one another. The connectivity brings joy in one sense but also ties me to this technology. That is the larger habit that I hope to break soon. This year has been the year of screen time. Everyone had nothing to do for months, and now it’s hard to cut ties with the technology we depended on for entertainment and information. Politics especially brought the smartphone into a new age of use. Angry texts with strangers online is nothing new, but the sheer scale of inconsequential conversations that took place daily is astounding. If all of that online talk was brought to the streets there would be real change in this country.
Quite the side track there. In any case, I’m working on it. I hope whatever habits this writing can inspire others to take it upon themselves to create change in their habits.
I’ll leave the reader with this quote regarding persistence and willpower.
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.”
-Robert Anton Winston, Prometheus Rising
