My phone is locked away for most hours of the day.
In the morning? Locked.
In the evening? Locked.
In the afternoon? Probably locked.
So, when is it NOT locked? When I want to use it for something that makes my life better. In other words…
I use my phone. It is not using me. I control when I use it, not the other way around.
You could say that most of the time, I’m “unplugged” from the world.
I still spend time in front of a computer every day to work, create, and write. But as far as the phone goes, I have chosen to draw hard lines in the sand around how and when I use it. (Exact Protocol Covered Later In The Article)
Here’s Why I Live Like This
In prior episodes, I shared a bit about my history with clinical depression and anxiety. In case you missed it, during my depressive episodes, I would lie on my couch all day and numb out on TV. Weeks would pass by in blurs during these time periods.
During one of my worst depressive episodes, it occurred to me I had no idea what day it was, nor how many days I’d been binging the show Six Feet Under every night. As the final episode of the series hit end credits, I knew I had to make a change.
I mustered every ounce of will I had, got myself to my computer, and listed my TV for free on Craigslist. Someone came and took it that same day.
This all happened a few years before my spiritual awakening in 2016. In 2016, I went through a health crisis that forced me to take stock of my life, my mind, and how the choices I was making were impacting my body.
Long story short, I realized that in order to live a life I love, I had to put joy and peace first.
My spiritual awakening was very simple. It was one moment of sanity followed by another moment of sanity, followed by another and another.
These moments of total lucidity strung together, moment after moment, giving me the ability to make sane choices in my life. These sane choices allow me to live my life from my soul.
These sane moments revealed one simple truth: My one and only priority is to live a joyful and peaceful life. This requires only one thing…to choose joy and peace as my one and only aim.
The equation is simple. If something takes away my peace and joy, I do not allow it to be a part of my life.
It’s precisely because my ego loves the stimulation of scrolling that I have to put boundaries into place. Just like a five year old will always say yes to another cookie, the ego mind will always want “just one more video.”
Just because I’m “awake” spiritually doesn’t mean I’m impervious to the buffet of entertainment and mental stimuli available 24/7. If anyone could sit and scroll all day it’s me.
Don’t even ask how many hours of my life I’ve spent surfing subreddits like WeWantPlates and DIWhy.
And pretty please, don’t ask me how many hours of my life I’ve spent watching CrunchyLuna chew her kibble (ok…this cat actually DOES make my life better hahah).
But here’s the truth….
I notice a drastic drop in peace and joy when I scroll too much. I don’t enjoy the feeling it gives me. I don’t enjoy the images that replay in my mind at the end of the day. I don’t enjoy the mental clutter. I don’t enjoy the time wasted. I don’t enjoy the mental itch to constantly check-in on social media.
I particularly dislike what it does to my focus and attention span.
So…knowing that excessive scrolling takes away my peace and joy, I lock my phone up for most of the day.
Again, I still use my phone. But I use it only when I want to, and for things that actually improve the quality of my life.
Why The Locker? Don’t You Have Enough Willpower?
My willpower is about as ironclad as they come. I can stick to basically any challenge you give me..7 Day fasts? Easy. Daily workouts? Done. Ice baths….eehhhhh. once a year.
You could have the strongest willpower in the world…the ego is cunning, and will weave a web to get what it wants. And what it wants is stimuli.
I’ve found that despite my deepest efforts or intentions, my ego will come up with tiny excuses to open up scroll sessions.
Picture this. It’s 11pm, time for bed, and suddenly the mind gets very insistent with reasons I simply NEED to open my phone for “just one minute”
- I forgot to order XYZ, let me place an order really quick
- Is that salsa studio open on Friday? Let me look it up.
- I meant to look up XYZ. Let me google it and read a couple articles
- And so on.
Next thing you know….BOOM, it’s two in the morning, and I’m somehow stuck in the abyss of the internet.
For the past six years, I’ve used some form of a lock box to make sure things like this don’t happen, and it has completely transformed my relationship with social media, work, and the iphone.
This is especially helpful for me during busy seasons in my business. I’m as guilty as anyone of checking my phone for “important” emails and letting work time bleed into the time I should be resting.
The phone is an incredible tool, but it can easily become a subtle torture device of the ego, leading to overwork and overstimulation.
How Locking Up Your Phone Can Heal Your Life
According to recent data, most humans spend an average of 60 hours per month scrolling. Which is, to put it bluntly, batshit insane.
Put another way, this scrolling habit is shaving off an average of 30 days per year from your one precious life. This is what’s considered normal nowadays.
I say this humbly, Screw Normal. This “Normal” is making us sick, depressed, and out of touch. It’s robbing our peace and joy.
Now let’s cover some benefits of locking your phone away. You’ll experience them firsthand after just a few days of locking away your phone.
Better Mental Health
The peace of NOW, without the baggage of mental clutter will improve your mental health. An overwhelming body of evidence is showing a direct link between scrolling and a decline in mental health.
There’s a growing epidemic of anxiety and depression, and I truly believe excessive scrolling is like kerosene on the flames.
Increased Motivation & Energy
Scrolling drains your energy and saps motivation. You’ll notice both of these increase the more you lock your phone away
Improved Attention Span
When you stop distracting your brain with scrolling, it’s incredible how quickly your attention span improves. If you constantly consume short form content, you’re training your brain to think and create in 30 second snippets. If you commit to being here in this one eternal moment, you’re training your mind to calm down and think deeply.
As an aside, multiple studies have shown that excessive scrolling is impacting our brain health, causing things like early neurodegeneration 1
Liberate Stored Emotions
Part of the reason we scroll is to avoid feeling things. When you finally stop distracting yourself, you’ll be able to release the emotions you’ve been avoiding. These stored emotions weigh us down, and prevent us from enjoying the present moment. When you process these stored emotions, you’ll feel lighter and more like YOU.
Improved Sleep, Hormones, & Health
There are countless studies from major universities like Harvard linking screen time with hormone disruption2 . When you lock your phone away, your sleep will improve, and so will your overall wellbeing. You’ll also probably become more active and get more time outside.
May people scroll at the end of the day. This is partly to “unwind” from stress. But what actually happens is your stress goes unprocessed, and creates a backlog.
A healthier way to wind down and decompress at the end of the day is to physically relax with a warm bath, a book, stretching, walking, mindful breathing.
Get More Time In Your Day
Many people complain there’s not enough time in the day. When you are mindful and present, you get a sense of spaciousness. That sense of spaciousness is you experiencing NOW. NOW is eternal. So, when you lock your phone away, you get to experience a sense of eternity. Things slow down. The day has exactly the perfect amount of “time”.
The Deeper Benefits | Metaphysical Breakthroughs
There are two modes we can operate from in life.
Truth or Illusion.
Love or Fear.
Eternal Self or ego self.
Our lives are a direct reflection of this. When we choose to live from love, love is what takes root. When we choose to live from fear, fear is what takes root.
It’s a total waste of time to focus on external “problems” and play whack-a-mole with outer circumstances. The one and only solution to all of life’s “problems” is to raise the level of consciousness.
In Power vs. Force, Dr. David Hawkins says, “To transcend the limitations of the mind, it is necessary to dethrone it from its tyranny as sole arbiter of reality.” Millions of us are struggling with life because we’re trapped in the illusions of our mind.
For thousands of years, sages and masters have said it again and again. Observing our minds is the key to liberation from it.
When we watch our mind, instead of being engrossed in every little thought, we’re no longer being dragged around by it.
When you lock your phone away, you’re giving your mind space. In that space, you become more aware of your thoughts. In that awareness, you have the agency to focus your mind on love. When you focus your mind on love, the level of consciousness elevates.
When your level of consciousness elevates, every aspect of your life improves.
Financial freedom, flow, health, relationships, connection, joy, fun, creativity, and so on. All of these are side effects of a mind living from love.
Locking your phone away, giving space to your mind, and actively choosing love will create breakthroughs in your life that look like “impossible miracles” from where you sit now.
The Phone-Freedom Protocol
- Lock your phone during the beginning and end of your day. Some time after waking, and an extended time before bed.
- Choose one day (or more) that are 100% free of any consumption
- Choose one hobby, skill, or topic per month you’re excited to master
Helpful Tools
Mindsight box or something similar
An alarm clock replacement (I like the Braun digital alarm for its simplicity, and lack of bright lights)
Bluetooth Home Telephone which connects to your cell (AT&T has a bunch these for under $40)
Kitchen Timer for meditation (I like the Taylor brand timers, because again, I prefer simplicity.)
Google Voice to make calls from your laptop if needed
Screen Zen App (Free) – This helps prevent excessive scrolling when the phone isn’t in the box.
Dumb Phone App – For eliminating app icons from your phone, and making the phone very “boring”
Freedom App for Laptops & Desktops – I never scroll on my desktop computer, but if you struggle with scrolling at your computer, you can use the Freedom app to shut out everything except for select websites.
Shift into Creator & Use YouTube to Grow
It might seem like a contradiction for me to be a business educator & consultant, teaching business owners how to use YouTube to grow “richer”…while also telling you to lock up ya’ damn phone. I get comments about this every so often.
Here’s the truth. YouTube is one of the greatest platforms for personal growth and development when we use it the right way. I personally still use YouTube to learn and grow from other teachers and leaders. I really do enjoy it.
YouTube is also my primary mode of marketing and promotion for my products and services. I’ve used it for the past 15 years, and it is through the power of YouTube that I’ve been able to help hundreds of thousands of people.
It’s also through the power of YouTube that I’ve been able to build profitable businesses that give my life space and freedom.
When we use these tools for our creativity, connection, & contribution, we are are using these things to improve our lives and the lives of others.
That’s why I’m hosting the LIVE 5 Day YouTube Breakthrough Challenge happening May 26-30!
If you’d like to grow your business with the power of YouTube, and reach more people with your message, join me for this 5 Day Challenge.
You’ll learn my Breakthrough framework for creating YouTube videos that cut through the noise, and reach the hearts of your ideal audience.
By the end of the 5 days, you’ll have created a YouTube video, and likely made tons of new friends.
❤️,
Brenda
Articles Referenced
- What Excessive Screen Time Does to The Adult Brain – Stanford Lifestyle Medicine ↩︎
- Screen Time and the Brain – Harvard Medical School ↩︎
