With my body cooked in a comforter and my head embedded on a pillow, I thumb my screen, endlessly social media rolls until my eyes feel heavy and I fall asleep. In what feels like just moments, my alarm Blares, and I instinctively reach my phone and control my e -post before my eyes have even been adapted to the morning light. Roll to sleep, wake up to notifications and repeat.
In recent years, this digital groundhog day became slow, harmful my reality – and I know I’m not the only one. Most of us are tied to our phones for entertainment, work or hope of escapism. While I will not sit here, write away on my computer and punish someone’s habits or choices – for me I knew I needed to break this hold pattern. And I tried.
As a health and lifestyle journalist, I have talked to sleep experts about the importance of putting screens before bed and talking to neuroscientists in all ways Social media Can move with our brain chemistry. After writing about all these pieces of expert -supported advice, I started Dabba with the best practice. I put my phone in the other room at night to charge and prioritized reading before bed. And yet it was too easy to fall back into old patterns, especially if I was especially flooded Or simply too drained to self -regulate.
But I recently remembered an article that I had read about a founder who intentionally held his phone on flight position for an hour (sometimes even two) after she woke up. During that time, rather than browsing or controlling emails, meditated, exercised and journalized-in mainly she participated in activities that supported her well-being and created her for a more calm, successful day.
When I read that story, I was inspired to approach my day in a similar way, with intention and respect for my own main space. So I tried to apply this rule on my morning. My self -imposed challenge: Stay away from screens from 21 to 9. Similar Intermittent fastingWhen you only eat under a certain time block during the day, I would apply the same structure with screens – digital intermittent fasting, if you want.
Experts displayed in this article:
Rebecca schoolnick, PHD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and co -founder of Mindwell NYC.
What are the potential benefits of digital intermittent fasting?
We all, instinctively, know that too much time on our screens in itself is unhealthy. But what is it about the evenings and mornings that are particularly sensitive? First, can stare at light before bed (especially blue light) “confuse your body to believe that it is still daytime and can keep your brain active”, says Rebecca schoolnick, PhD student, licensed clinical psychologist and co -founder of Mindwell NYCadds that this can interfere with our natural sleep-wake-up cycle and make it harder to fall asleep and fall asleep. “It is especially useful not to ‘judge paths“Or take in a lot of information just before bed so that your mind can start to unwind and not try to process so much incoming information,” she says. In addition, you have probably heard that it is best to keep your laptop out of your bed – and the same goes for your phone, as it is ideal to associate your bed with sleep, not “daytime activities.”
As for the morning, what you choose to do when you wake up really the tone for the rest of the day. “When you start looking at screens, you give your brain a lot of information and stimulation. Some of the information can be negative, anxiety-neglecting or stressful,” says schoolnick. “It is important to give you a chance to wake up naturally and switch to the day.”
In addition, it can even control social media even devastation to your brain activity. Research suggests that it forces the brain from a sleep state to a focused concentration state. In turn, the brain bypasses the sleepy dream -like condition, and the awake but still relaxed conditions that usually come before the concentration, explains the neuroscientist Nicole Vignola in her Basis. “This is primarily primarily to be distracted throughout the day and can activate your stress response.” It is true for several causes-not just disturbing your natural sleep-wake-up cycle and creates an increased start to the day, but it also potentially raises your dopamine base lines, which causes you to request stimuli (as, Ahem, your phone) even more during the day to maintain the same level of stimulation. In other words, it begins your day on a rather unpleasant note, which can have a rippling effect on your mood and concentration.
Skolnick suggests that you give yourself at least a 30 to 60 minute buffer before bed and after waking up so that the brain has time to discontinue or accurate to the day.
As an alternative to screen time, she suggests taking a hot shower or bath, reading a book (of a device), listening to calm music or a soothing podcast, putting on comfortable clothes, mild stretching, relaxation exercises and meditation or mindfulness exercises.
My experience of digital intermittent fasting
In an ideal world, my bed is 22:00 and I wake up at 07:00, which gives my body time to make it off and get a guaranteed 8 hour sleep. Sure, it’s not always feasible (maybe I have a movie night on Friday night or write for later hours), but I decided to create the challenge for myself based on this time frame. So my digital intermittent fixed windows would be 21:00 to 9:00 – simple enough to remember, yet shockingly challenging to practice.
I am a little embarrassed to admit how difficult it was to stick to this schedule. I would have a successful day, and then something would completely trace my plan next. Still, I could eventually reach almost a week with consistent digital about – and frankly it made a noticeable difference.
To set myself up for success, I used a trick that I had dabbed with before: Move my phone out of sight, out of my mind. As part of my night routine, I connected my phone to the charger in another room, so I would not feel tempted to consciously grab it. From there, without my phone to distract me, I moved through a slow downtritual ritual: I completed all my Skin care stepsBrushed your teeth and cozied up with a book in bed. Rather than using my phone as an alarm clock, I actually used Loftie clock That I invested months ago for this particular purpose (which concept) – chose to wake up to the sound of sea waves.
In the morning (after, admittedly, met snooze a few times) I was enough for my diary and scraped a few pages. I completed my morning skincare routine. I went for a short morning walk with my husband, so the sun could be the first bright light of the day, rather than a screen. I ate breakfast. I liked a soothing shower. In a few days I trained in the morning, sometimes I took a cold stepAnd in the second mornings I meditated for a few minutes. Not every day looked the same, but there was a constant: I kept my phone out of sight until 9:00.
Now, to be completely honest, as happy as this may sound – the first few days were rough. I still woke up and felt a little anxiety, as if I forgot something. But as the days continued, that feeling eased something – I reminded myself that e -mail messages and messages would not go anywhere. And if there was really an emergency, someone would call my husband (yes, this does not exactly put him for his own screen -time -free installation, but that is another story). This was really an exercise in letting go, in more ways than one.
In addition to woke up more peacefully, I also noticed that I was much more focused when I was not starting the day with screen stimulation. I felt more productive and thought I wasn’t enough for my phone as regularly. This was especially obvious when I went from a period of time to practice digital if I, then back to a day to check my phone first – in the latter scenario I was more spread, with a steady stress of stress that goes through me. The contrast was both enlightening and disturbing.
Takeaway
After experimenting with digital intermittent fasting, I can certainly say that this is a practice I will do my best to make a constant in my life. After reporting on the benefits of a decommissioning routine, a slow morning and generally minimized screen time for several years-it was the first time I really felt a major impact on my own mental well-being.
Realistically, I may not practice this every day – especially not for a 12 -hour bit. That said, I will be much more aware of delaying the screen time in the morning (even if it is only 30 minutes) and honor my bed at night.
This challenge may have started as a way to prove to myself that I am not as dependent on technology as I believe, and that my willpower is strong – but what I have realized is that it is not the point at all. Instead, I see digital fasting as a deep and deep respect for myself, my energy and my time. We only get so many hours during this lifetime, and I personally want to spend more of me doing things that turn me on.
So even if there is nothing wrong with taking time to browse – it can be a good way to get in touch with others, and even spark creativity, after all – I encourage you to set aside some time every day to exist in a world beyond technology. Spend some waking hours that are clean, and maybe start breaking all bikes that hold you back.
Kristine Thomason is a lifestyle writer and editor based in southern California. Previously, she was Health and Fitness Director at MindboyGreen and Fitness and Wellness editor at Women’s Health. Kristine’s work has also appeared in PS, Travel + Leisure, Men’s Health, Health and RaffinaDay29, among others.
