What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

If you’re like most Americans (80% according to recent studies), you check your phone within the first 15 minutes.  

However, of this 80%, I suspect a small percentage is being consulted by high-level government officials or is responsible for saving lives. 

I absolutely appreciate & admire those who are, BUT if you’re not one of them, have you questioned WHY you’re checking your phone? 

And the effect doing so has on the rest of your day?

Checking your phone first thing often:

• Hijacks YOUR agenda.  

Consider this...Does your inbox generally consist of messages that HELP you?  Or requests for information?  Questions?  Additional things to do?  Other people’s opinions?  OTHER people’s agendas?

• Causes you to begin the day negatively & often in reactionary, stress mode.  

How often do headlines create happy & inspiring words such as “How to Do What You Love” or “Sunshine & Moderate Temps Expected for the Next Two Weeks”?  

Do headlines like these keep us coming back for more?  Do they keep the media in business?

No, but fear invoking, “you’ll want to check back in ten minutes” headlines do.  

In fact, we may even become concerned about what we may have missed during the time we were sleeping & weren’t on our phones, causing us to scroll even more.  

• Creates a pattern of distraction for the remainder of the day.

The dopamine reward of checking email & social media stimulates our desire to continue checking throughout the day.  

Julie Morgenstern, author of the book Never Check Email In The Morning notes when you check your email or notifications first thing in the morning, “you’ll never recover. Those requests and those interruptions and those unexpected surprises and those reminders and problems are endless… there is very little that cannot wait a minimum of 59 minutes.”

What can you do instead?

• Prioritize YOUR agenda for the day
• Stretch
• Exercise
• Journal
• Meditate
• Shower
• Make coffee
• Listen to a podcast
• Read
• ANYTHING else

Will you have the willpower to do this EVERY day?  Probably not.  But will it help start your day in the right direction on the days you DO?  Absolutely.