If you wish to avoid waking up with the phone and be productive in the morning, here are some tips for you. #1 Notice the impulse, stop and question it.
#2 Make a 5-minute agreement with yourself. Here are some options:
- Breathe and relax your body
- Imagine how it would play out when you picked up the phone (what are the upsides and downsides)
- Do some pushups
- Come out of bed and enter another room first
- Journal and describe your impulse/feelings
#3A Pick up the phone
OR
#3B Do something else - there's a good chance that the impulse has disappeared and you feel motivated to do something else.
Additional tips:
- Use a different alarm clock and move the phone out of your bedroom
- Put the phone far away so you need to move first to stop the alarm.
The KEY is to stop the automatic behavior and create an alternate path. The impulse is pretty strong at first, especially if it's a long-term habit.
But remember that it is just a subjective feeling. The importance of picking up the phone seems bigger than it actually is.
When you stop and stay present, it will dissolve. It is natural to get inspired to do something else, just like it used to happen before we were using smartphones!
By the way, I wouldn't have written this if I woke up with the phone this morning. Instead I started brainstorming ideas and created something I was proud of. This raised my dopamine levels and the craving to go online disappeared.
✨ What's your experience? Do you think it's important to avoid grabbing your phone after waking up or it doesn't really matter? What has helped you to change this habit? :)