Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to try going screen free for twenty
Speaker 1: four hours. We spend a lot of time on our
Speaker 1: phones and devices, but consciously taking a break can be
Speaker 1: eye opening and kind of well fun. Thanks to Apple's
Speaker 1: screen time feature, I've realized over the past few months
Speaker 1: that I've been spending an increasing number of hours per
Speaker 1: day on my phone, often mindlessly. I texted my husband
Speaker 1: and babysitter and a few friends, and that's all great,
Speaker 1: But every time I pick up the phone to look
Speaker 1: at my text, I wind up looking at other stuff too.
Speaker 1: Random comments on an article Twitter, coronavirus headlines that I
Speaker 1: don't need to be following. Even checking the time, or
Speaker 1: the weather or my steps winds up triggering a cycle
Speaker 1: of looking through social media feeds. Looking at the phone
Speaker 1: also becomes my default for when I'm feeding my baby,
Speaker 1: and that adds hours too. The baby feeding time is
Speaker 1: what it is, but the rest of the time is
Speaker 1: harder to justify. It doesn't work to ignore the phone,
Speaker 1: so instead I've been trying to leave my phone elsewhere
Speaker 1: for periods of time when it's okay. For instance, when
Speaker 1: I went for a walk recently with my parents and
Speaker 1: my kids, I couldn't really imagine that anyone else would
Speaker 1: desperately need to reach me, so I left the phone.
Speaker 1: On a recent beach vacation, I would leave the phone
Speaker 1: at the house. When I was with my family on
Speaker 1: the sand, I couldn't pick up the phone in a
Speaker 1: moment of boredom, and so I looked at the waves
Speaker 1: and it felt more relaxing. Of course, the phone is
Speaker 1: incredibly useful, as is my laptop, but given that we're
Speaker 1: all going places less frequently these days, this might be
Speaker 1: a great time to try not using it for a while.
Speaker 1: What would happen if you park the phone somewhere in
Speaker 1: your house and go screen free for a few hours
Speaker 1: or even a full Today's challenge is to give it
Speaker 1: a try, maybe over this weekend. Maybe take a quick
Speaker 1: look in the morning to deal with anything. Then turn
Speaker 1: the phone off or put it somewhere to charge. Don't
Speaker 1: turn on your work laptop. Tell anyone who often reaches
Speaker 1: you by phone that you'll be off for a bit,
Speaker 1: just so they're not concerned. Then see how it goes.
Speaker 1: There are definitely moments of boredom, but when there's no
Speaker 1: easy way out, you figure out something else to do.
Speaker 1: I stare at the sky more, and it's hard to
Speaker 1: tell yourself that you have no time when you're staring
Speaker 1: at the clouds. Truth is, though, just about any time
Speaker 1: I'm reading headlines and feeling like I don't have time,
Speaker 1: I could have been looking at the clouds, I always
Speaker 1: had the time. I generally just try to go screen
Speaker 1: free for a few hours, which I think is better
Speaker 1: than nothing. You can check in mid day if you'd
Speaker 1: like to, or go to the evening and then check
Speaker 1: in if you're brave, twenty four hours. It's definitely doable
Speaker 1: over a weekend, as long as you're not trying to
Speaker 1: coordinate complicated plans. Plenty of people already tone out for
Speaker 1: religious reasons, and they seem to do just fine. I
Speaker 1: know some people take occasional week long completely off screen vacations,
Speaker 1: but that's never been practical for me since I'm often
Speaker 1: texting to coordinate with family members. But this doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be all or nothing. Just try being off for
Speaker 1: a bit and see what happens. If the world doesn't
Speaker 1: fall apart, and it generally doesn't then try again. You
Speaker 1: just might enjoy it. If you try going screen free
Speaker 1: for a day or a few days, or at least
Speaker 1: a few hours, let me know how it goes. You
Speaker 1: can reach me once you're back on at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime, this
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.
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