Day 22: Trial Separation Recap

Welcome to Day 22—and the final week!—of the February Phone Breakup. (Whoah – we’re almost there!)

Last week we focused on strengthening our attention spans and becoming more present. This week, we’re going to work on synthesizing everything we’ve done and experimented with over the course of our time together, so that you finish the month with a solid plan in place. 

Today’s goal is simple. 

First, I want to give you a bit more time to reflect on what you experienced this weekend when you took a break from your phone (and to reflect on what you’ve experienced so far in general). So take a few minutes today to look through, respond, and add to the comments on last night’s post

Second, I want to share something important with you, which may help you if you feel like your relationship with your phone isn’t “perfect:”

Perfection Isn’t the Point

In fact, it’s highly likely that your relationship with your phone will never feel perfect. That's not me being pessimistic; it's simply true. No relationship is ever perfect, and our phones have been deliberately designed to make healthy relationships extremely difficult to maintain. It’s inevitable that we’ll sometimes lose our way. And that’s okay. Instead of aiming for perfection, our goal is to train ourselves to notice when we begin to drift back to our old habits, and to use the tools and techniques we’ve worked on together to gently get ourselves back on track. Every time we do so, we're succeeding.

“It’s not like these changes have unlocked an extra twenty-four hours in the day for me, during which I’ve suddenly become the perfect mother, spouse, recreational athlete, and world-class writer. Rather, with fewer clickable distractions, I feel confident that I am doing the most with the time I do have.” —Vanessa

To scrolling less, living more, and being kind to ourselves, 

Catherine

PS: 

  • As always, you can ask me and your fellow participants questions—and share observations and insights with each other— by leaving a comment.

  • If you leave a comment on the blog, please be sure to check back — I read through every comment, and try to respond to each one! (And other people often chime in, too.) 

  • You can also send me questions privately simply by responding to your daily email, but I encourage you to engage with the community; you may be surprised to discover that other people are struggling with the same thing!  


How to Leave a Comment/Join the Conversation

  • If you want to start a new thread/conversation, simply type your comment into the big white comment box below.

  • If you’re trying to respond to a previous commenter, or add a comment to a thread, simply tap the small “reply” circle on the top right of the post (if you’re on a computer, you may need to hover your mouse over the comment to get the “reply” option to show up) and reply in the thread. This will help keep our conversations organized.

  • You do not need to log in or create an account in order to comment. Simply enter your first name, ignore the other fields, and then submit the comment as a guest.

  • Catherine will be popping in once a day to read through and respond to your comments. You may also hear from other members of the team, Maryana and Laura, who are helping with logistics.

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Sunday Check-In: Week 3