- charlie linnell
「my smartphone from the 90’s.」
One day I got so tired of waking up to a glowing screen.
Every morning, I use to wake up by the alarm on my phone.
I turn it off and stay in bed with the phone for a while.
My cats meows and wants me to go up.
After that I go to the toilet (with my phone!) and stay there for a long time.
I feed the cats and have some breakfast.
And then I come back to make my bed...
Ugh.
I didn’t want that habit... When was the last time I just woke up without a screen? I quit social media, but why do I still have to look at the weather app, my messages and my bank account the first thing when I wake up in the morning?! Why, Charlie?! So, I decided to change this morning habit of mine. These days, I use my smartphone like a phone from the 90’s.
So here’s how my morning routine goes:
I wake up to an alarm clock (not my phone).
I stretch my body and take a few deep breaths.
I pet my cats and make my bed.
I go to the toilet (without my phone) and stay there for a normal amount of time.
I feed the cats and have some breakfast.
Nice!
Where is the smartphone? Answer: It’s in my home studio. And it stays there all day.
It has a fixed place in the home like a normal phone from the 90’s - When someone calls me, I answer and then I leave the phone in the home studio.
I also use it like we use the mail box outside our homes - I check if I’ve got a text message once or twice a day and then leave the phone in the home studio. If it's urgent, people will call me.
If I want to listen to music or an audiobook, I get my headphones and then leave the phone in the home studio.
If I want to meditate I get my phone and starts to meditate and then leave the phone in the home studio.
I use my smartphone as a tool now, mainly for calls, text messages, audiobook and meditation. I don’t bring any screens in my bedroom anymore, just books, and it works fine. And in the mornings, I feel like my mind is there, in the present time. I don’t get distracted by noise from the smartphone. I just wake up.
