Week one is in the books and I have to say, it was both harder (and easier) than I thought it would be. FOMO and screen time pretty much sums up the first week of my digital declutter. In the first few days, I instinctively reached for my phone. After unlocking it and staring at my essentially bare home screen, I forgot why I even reached for it. Why did I? Because it's a pointless habit that is now part of my muscle memory. After realizing there is nothing to do on my phone, other than text or call, I set it back down.
Que that cycle for a few days. By day five, I am feeling like the urge is gone, but what has replaced it is a sneaky case of FOMO. It is silly really. What could I possibly be missing out on? Answer: nothing. Truthfully, nothing. I have had the urge to check Instagram because of my case of FOMO, but the ultimate defense has been deleting all of these apps off my phone. If I still had the apps on my phone, I honestly would have given into to the temptation days ago. That seems to be the key.
What have I learned so far?
I spent wayyyyyy too much time on my phone with nothing to show for it. My screen time has went down almost 75%! That is no exaggeration. Before the declutter, I was averaging about 2 hours 30 minutes a day on my phone, with literally nothing to show for it. I couldn't even tell you what I was doing other than mindlessly scrolling IG and checking random apps. I am now averaging 25 minutes a day. Those numbers speak for themselves people.
I am bored. (But that's ok!) The urge to reach for my phone and the FOMO really comes down to me being bored or distracted. My goal for the upcoming weeks is to find something to reach for when I get the itch, in leu of a phone. This week I have gotten creative and usually reach for my current read, journal, or I get out of my chair and take a walk.
Everyone else spends too much time on their phones, IMO. Now that I barely have my phone on me, I notice how much other people have theirs! It is like that saying, "when a bell is rung". I cannot stop noticing how much other people are staring mindlessly at their phones, whether it is my husband sitting next to me on the couch, the person standing in line in front of me at the grocery store, or the other parents at my kid's basketball practice. I almost feel like I am in some alternate universe when I realize I am the only person in a room who isn't staring at their phone screen. But hey, I am more than ok with it!
I am a bit scared for when this declutter ends and I begin incorporating apps back into my life. I am not going to give up IG forever, but I will have to come up with some boundaries and rules so that I do not fall back into my bad habits and make this declutter negate itself.
I have been keeping busy with reading, moving my body, and journaling. Books, workouts, and writing has been filing most of my screen free time, as well as just being more present with my kids (and resting, I RARELY rest, but lately I have been listening to my body more and giving it guilt-free rest when it needs it.)
I finished Station Eleven by Emily St. Mandel (Loved it) and City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Loved it, too) this week and am #currentlyreading Dear Child by Romy Hausmann (creep-tastic and giving me Room by Emma Donoghue vibes) and #currentlylistening to Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (the narration is perfection.)
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