iPhone Addiction, Social Media, and Tech Breaks

I left my iPhone downstairs in my purse last night and it was amazing. I’ve heard so many great things about not sleeping with your phone and it’s true. I tried many, many time, but couldn’t get myself to leave my phone in another room, but last night it happened by nearly an accident. I came home late from a pottery class, went upstairs for a bath, then went to bed intentionally without my phone because I wanted a few moments without it, which turned into a whole blissful night without it.

I’m addicted to my phone. I do have some boundaries set up to help me focus: I keep my phone on do not disturb almost 100% of the time where only my close family members can call me. My phone usually doesn’t make any noise except for alarms and phone calls. I finally quit checking my email multiple times a day. And I’ve recently shut notifications off for almost all apps, the most difficult and freeing one was Facebook messenger. I’m connected to so many great people through Facebook, but that includes friends and work, and sometimes I need a barrier and boundary so when I first wake up I don’t get a jolt of cortisol saying: oh crap, I need to do that. I will eventually have that jolt, but at least it is on my terms when I can handle it.

Even with all of the seemingly safer ways I treat my phone, I still can’t quit gaming for hours with simple match three games and listening to audiobooks before bed. I do love listening to audiobooks, but I’ve beat thousands of levels of my match three games and it usually take me…