Moving away from the busy trap isn’t just an exercise in learning to say no; it’s a chance to make space for yourself through thoughtful boundaries. Doing this might feel a little selfish or strange, but it is a necessary act of self-care. Not checking your phone for a day releases you from the unnecessary obligations and often self-imposed commitments it generates.
This challenge is all about you reclaiming your time and clarifying your priorities. It may be more difficult for some people than others, and to accomplish it, you may need to create some rules such as creating a password for family members to use if there is an emergency, only reading emails from work on your current project, and so on.
Putting yourself and your priorities first is not an easy task, however, and I respect the people in my life who model this behavior. My friend Jenny, for instance, doesn’t check her phone during the day; she is intentional about her priorities, and doesn’t rearrange her life or schedule at the sound of a text message.
So much of our busyness is self-imposed by the desire to look good, appear useful, avoid disappointing others, or trying to seem like a good friend or nice person. None of those are good reasons to do anything. For one day put your phone and the busyness it generates aside, and just focus on what you need or want to do. The world—and all its pressure and commitments—can wait.
TRY THIS
It’s common to underestimate how much time you spend on your phone or how often you pick it up to “check” something. That’s why downloading a free app, like Moment, can help you see exactly how much time you spend on your phone each day and what you spend those minutes (or hours) doing. It can be eye-opening to see how much of your day you spend looking at things on your phone—when you could be using this time for other things in your life.