Every morning, as my 5 to 7 alarms go off, I grab my cell phone to silence them, and then immediately open my favorite app, Instagram. I tear through the app with my eyes half shut, and then without even thinking, I scroll through Twitter, then Facebook, and then Snapchat. I spend at least 30 minutes not getting out of bed by wasting time reading through all of the nonsense on social media. And as a creature of habit, I have started off my mornings checking social media for years now.
I started to realize that there are a million other things I could dedicate the first few minutes of my day to, instead of dismissively browsing through random posts on Instagram. Waking up for a new day is a huge blessing, and I realized I did not want to dedicate the beginning of each day to social media. My mornings should be about me, and not about other people’s posts.
Day 1: I was able to get out of bed without checking any social apps, but I felt out of routine when I immediately went to brush my teeth instead of first checking my phone. It took me less time to get ready in the morning, because I did not have any YouTube videos playing while I was doing my hair and makeup. I kept thinking about my phone, trust me, in no way had I forgotten about it. I found that I was rushing to get ready, because I knew that as soon as I had my morning routine done, I could check Instagram.
Day 2: The only times when I would not check my phone in the morning previously, was when I would accidentally sleep in. Today, unfortunately, was one of those days. I slept in an hour late, so checking social media was the last thing on my mind. And thankfully, I made it out the door on time.
Day 3: Today I made it out the door without having to rush, and I felt like I had more time than ever. I got out of bed as soon as my alarm went off, because I realized that I was bored just lying in bed without any social media to check.
Day 4: My alarm went of at 6:45 as usual today, and even though I was still thinking about social media first thing this morning, I knew that I was not allowed to check it. So, I got up after lying in bed for five minutes, and I started my day by tidying up my room and making tea. I felt so accomplished, by beginning my day as soon as I woke up.
Day 5: This morning, the first thing I looked at was my to do list. It helped to remind me of what I need to achieve today, and ultimately pushed me to get out of bed and begin my day. Without social media in the way, I was able to start working on my to do list earlier than I had expected. I have found that making a list the night before is a great way to keep yourself focused on having a productive morning.
By utilizing your time in the morning for yourself, and not for social media, you can add something new to your morning routine, such as yoga, a workout, reading, praying, or relaxing with coffee or tea. Or if you are like me, you can simply use the time to start getting ready earlier so that you do not have to rush in the morning.
I have found that this experience has been very rewarding, and once you realize social media is not important enough to spend the first moments of your day using it, you start to make your mornings about you.