For the past few weeks, I’ve structured my morning routine around one main principle: no cell phone until after I’ve had my coffee. (Drinking coffee is one of the last things I do before work.) It hasn’t been easy. According to this article (which cites a 2010 Pew Research study), 83% of Millennials (myself included) sleep with their phones within reach. Elsewhere, sources claim that more than 80% of smart phone users check their phone first thing in the morning. First thing.
My a.m. compulsion to check my phone began unintentionally. One year, I received an alarm clock for Christmas that enabled me to charge my phone at night. At first, it was convenient to have my phone on my nightstand. Eventually, I did away with the alarm clock and started using my phone itself for an alarm. The alarm app was so…sophisticated. I could awaken to nearly any song or sound I wanted–church bells, barking, a xylophone. (Ironically, I used my standard ringtone anyway.)
My phone’s continual presence quickly became a distraction. When I grabbed the phone to turn off the alarm, it was only natural to check my email, the weather forecast, the local news, Facebook, the 30% sale at Gap–all without even leaving my bed. At night, it was worse. I couldn’t seem to shut the thing off. There was always one more thing to look up. One more app to check. In the middle of the night, during bouts of insomnia, I reached for the phone even then. Once I decided to change this behavior, willpower wasn’t enough. My phone needed a curfew, and I needed a new alarm clock.
I decided to buy a simple digital model, but finding one was more difficult than I anticipated. These days, it’s rare to find an alarm clock that isn’t compatible with a smart phone. I finally found one–it’s black plastic with red numbers, a late ’80s relic. It has a snooze button (a must) and gives me the option to wake up to the radio instead of a jarring beep.
Since getting the clock, my phone is turned off and charged in the living room at night. I don’t turn it on until right before I leave for work. It’s now the last thing in my morning routine instead of the first. It took a while, but my compulsion to check it in the morning is gone. (Turning it off at night is a different story.) Some days I regret having to turn the phone on at all and delay it as long as possible. I consider it to be one more step in “untangling.” Without the phone, my mornings feel slower and my mind, less scattered. The world and its “flash sales” can wait until after I have my coffee.
