Addicted to my Phone*

I think I’m addicted to my phone.

I’ve noticed since Prince Will’s birth that I spend a ridiculous amount of time on it. Part of that is because I’ve been home, and the other (big) part is because that’s what I do to “escape” for a few minutes.

You know how it goes… the first thing you do in the morning is check your phone–Facebook, Instagram, email, messenger, Timehop, etc… and there goes 20 minutes. Then it’s off and on throughout the day whenever I need a “break” or I get a notification, and it’s always for longer than I say I will. And then we finally get the kids into bed, and what do I do? Play on my phone. Finally it’s bedtime, and what’s the last thing I do before getting into bed? Check my phone that one. last. time.

I’m horrible.

I think it really started when Will was a baby. The only way he would be calm was if I had him in my arms walking laps around my house. To keep myself sane, I would hold him over my shoulder while we paced and I would play on my phone. I spent hours on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Candy Crush, just trying to distract myself from a bad day.

Well, I’m no longer pacing my house with Will, but I am still spending WAY more time on my phone than I’d like. I sometimes think back to when I was a teenager and didn’t yet have one, and I am pretty sure that I was totally fine without it.

So, today is day one of the great phone cut back. I deleted the Facebook app off my phone a while ago, and today I disabled notifications from all the apps I usually get sucked into. I don’t want to delete them completely because I still want to share photos occasionally, but I want to stop trolling the newsfeeds so often. The only sounds that will now alert me from my phone are calls and text messages, and I am determined not to pick up my phone unless it’s to have a conversation with someone (in person or by text).

I feel like I’ve finally gotten a grip on my bad eating habits, and now I want to clean up my other bad habits as well. My word for the year is Strengthen, and one of my goals within that is to strengthen my good habits, and let go of the bad.  I’ve really been trying to write a little more often, and my piano has seen more action in the past two weeks than it has in years. I like it.

So. I’m kind of excited to see how this goes. I’ve tried sort of halfheartedly in the past, and then as soon as I’m worn out with the kids I regress and wind up on my couch playing Candy Crush. I feel like if I admit it to you now, I’ll do better at staying on track… so hopefully I can kick this bad habit.

I’m ready to disconnect a little. :)