One Week In

It's been one week since I began my resolution to stop looking at my cell phone so much, and I've made a few realizations:

1. First and foremost, I am calmer. It turns out that constantly grabbing my cell phone wasn't relaxing me. The relentless political posts on Facebook and keeping up with emails as they came in really wasn't doing much for my minute-to-minute well-being. What does make me feel good is taking in the world around me, whether it's hamming it up with Buddy in the car while we wait for something, or in my sun-dappled kitchen as I sit for a minute in the rare quiet moment of everyone playing outside while I cook supper.

2. All those times I thought I was being proactive and effective with my time by grabbing my phone "when I had a minute" to "catch up on things"... nope. It really was accomplishing next to nothing. I never was getting ahead like I thought I was. Now, when I check my phone after a few hours, see that I have 5 emails, and read them, I laugh. Not once in the past week have any of  my emails been urgent, and not once have I suffered from not being on top of them in the way that I was when I was checking my phone constantly. There wasn't anything that couldn't wait until later that evening.

3. As much as I am enjoying the newfound freedom of not being as addicted to my phone, I also quickly realized that I, of course, use my cell as a camera and to check the time! While I have no interest in buying and / or carrying around a separate camera, I could do myself a favor and buy a watch for the first time in years. I know what would cut down my cell time even more.

4. Every day it's gotten a little easier. I really had to watch myself, and still do at times, because it was such an ingrained habit. It does feel like what I imagine an addict may go through... what do I do with my hands instead? I know how pathetic that may sound, but a habit is a habit, and I fully admit that, like reaching for a cigarette, my hands were trained to reach for my cell in a quiet moment, heck, even in a busy moment, when I just wanted to retreat. It's been a lot of retraining on my part. I have to busy myself with other things, or just be. Just sit in the kitchen for a moment.

I'm one week in and the only plans I have are to continue down this path. I am calmer, more focused, more productive and happier with myself. While my last post was commenting on cell usage in general, this particular resolution is about me. I don't expect the people around me to change. I'm doing this because I was genuinely annoyed at myself for an addiction that only hampered my life.

And so begins week two!