I didn't like my reaction to this . . .

Dear Friends,

Like most of you, I am well aware of the impact of phones disrupting my attention and connection, and the ease at which I get “sucked in.” So I immediately loved the idea of OFF February, an inaugural global campaign to eliminate the distraction and temptation of social media apps on our phones for the 28 days of February, but my body had an entirely different reaction.

As OFF Movement founder, Diego Hidalgo, and I talked through the campaign, the reality hit me that I would be deleting my own apps from my own phone on February 1st, and my chest got tight, my stomach clenched, and I felt sick. I did not like it.

This alarming reaction was enough to commit me to OFF February. If I was clinging so desperately to the little apps on my phone, I wanted to take back control and eliminate the dependency.

Diego reminded me that I was still able to use social media in February – it isn't a ban, just a challenge – as I would be able to use it all on my laptop. As I use Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for work, this eased my concern, but I also know how much easier it is for me to use them from my phone, and therein lies the creator’s carefully crafted plan…

Lately, many of my conversations seem to be around adult phone use.

Last week, I told some friends about the impact of my new 30 minute phone-free start to the day, and a friend shared how helpful that would be versus the current reality of starting the day angry. Mic drop.

The conversation then shifted to phone use before bed and friends shared habits and about losing track of time scrolling in bed, disturbed and lost sleep, and falling asleep with it in hand. 

Curious, I asked if they charged their phones within reach of their beds. 

I wondered, because my husband has been downright militant about keeping his phone charging in the kitchen overnight but my phone came to our room when I started meditating during Covid and it stayed, despite the fact that I have an alarm clock. 

My adapted rule for myself (and for my 17 yo) is that if the phone charges in the bedroom, it stays out of reach of the bed. This discourages the temptation and slippery slope of scrolling in bed.

The answer was that my friends all plug their phones in right next to their beds. It’s the first and last thing they do. We know it’s not good for us, but we do it anyway. Every. Single. Day.

So let’s get beyond just knowing and start taking collective action on what's good for us. Get intentional and brave and join me in deleting your social media apps (hmm maybe even news or candy crush for some?) off of your phone for OFF February. Let’s see how our lives change by limiting our use of FaceBook, Instagram, Tiktok, Linkedin, and news to our computers/laptops.  

As parents, it’s more about what we do, than what we say or lecture that has the biggest impact on our kids. If we want them to have a healthy relationship with tech, we need to be role modeling it. 

We can’t build relationships and connection in the real world, that which gives life meaning, when our attention (and sleep) is hijacked by our phone.