Disconnect from Distractions

Connecting is good and part of who we are as humans, but sometimes we need to disconnect. Disconnecting from distractions is often helpful and assists us to be more creative and productive. I recommend no screentime for 2 hours after waking in the morning and for one hour before going to bed at night. There are several reasons for this.

One reason for no screens for one hour before bedtime is because screens stimulate our brains and interrupt our REM sleep. At night when we sleep is when we heal from the anxiety of the day and well, you see where this is going. If we don’t sleep , we are anxious the next day. Is it any wonder that anxiety is the number one reason people come to my office for help?

If we begin our day with screens, this too increases our anxiety level. It goes like this, we wake up reach for our phone and there are 77 emails that came during the night, and we dive into them before our feet ever hit the floor. Some are good and some are bad and it just causes us to be anxious. If the last thing we did before we went to bed was look at screens, then we are likely unconsciously anxious anyway. Now it multiplies. Then we check out social media and we see that our best friend was at a party last night, at our other best friends house, and we become furious that we were not included.

All of this exposure to negativity first thing in the morning sets our day off to a hectic and unsettling pace, and the way we begin is often the way we finish. Imagine an entire week like this, and you can see why it is helpful to cut out screen time for two hours after waking to set our pace to be more soothing and happier.

We get to choose how our day will go for the most part. We get to decide what we will let into our lives, and the emotional pace we want to set for ourselves. Starting our day with a cup of coffee and a quiet devotional is much more settling than scrolling through the news or social media. It just is.

How do you want your days to be experienced? What choices can you make to enjoy them more? I challenge you to experiment and see if your mood is better, and you feel more at peace if you do not look at screens for 2 hours after waking. So much of our lives are our choice, choose well.