Day 24: Manage Your Invitations
Welcome to Day 24 of the Phone Breakup Challenge!
One of the hardest parts about changing your relationship with your phone is having to constantly say no to invitations sent by your own brain. For example:
“Oh hi. I see that you just woke up. Want to look at your phone to see if anyone messaged you while you were sleeping?”
“It looks like you might be about to try to meditate. How about we just check social media for a second first?”
“This date is boring. Let’s excuse ourselves to use the bathroom and then text someone else from the toilet.”
But here’s the thing: once you recognize that these are merely invitations being sent by your brain (rather than commands), then you can choose to decide how to respond.
Like many of the things we’ve been experimenting with, this practice can be extremely useful in the rest of your life as well.
So today, let’s try expanding the way we use it: try to notice some of the invitations—both phone- and non-phone-related—that your brain is sending.
Then make a conscious decision about how you want to respond.
For example, if your brain is trying to convince you to bring your phone into your bedroom tonight, or to reinstall a social media or news app, don’t immediately say yes. Instead, pause. Stop, breathe, and be. Notice what your brain is inviting you to do. Consider possible alternatives. Then decide how you want to respond.
If you’re up for it, share some of the “invitations” your brain sent you today—and how you responded—in the comments.
To scrolling less, living more, and deciding how to RSVP,
PS:
As always, you can ask me and your fellow participants questions—and share observations and insights with each other— by leaving a comment.
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!
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.)
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.