Happy Monday!

Hey friend,

It has been a week! Last Monday I pulled an Irish exit (kind of… you knew I was deleting social media)! I felt like a ‘farewell’ post was kind of dumb since I’ve been talking about this on my stories for a bit so I ripped the bandaid and deleted social. The same day I also made another dramatic change… I got rid of my iPhone 🙀 and traded it in for a Wisephone. Here are some kind of embarrassing things I’m going to admit about my phone use:

My Morning Ritual:

• Wake up, check my email, check Instagram - sometimes before even getting out of bed?!?! And definitely before I’ve had my morning coffee. This could sometimes lead to 20+ minutes of scrolling before Lennon wakes up.

• Lennon wakes up, we start our routine, I’m still checking my phone whenever I can.. I literally didn’t even have notifications, (I’m not that cool) I’d be checking just to check, refreshing just to refresh the feed.

• Lennon leaves for daycare, I go back on my phone to start ‘work’ aka my work day is delayed because I’m convincing myself I’m doing market research on Instagram lol … you catch my drift. This is how the evenings were going as well - including scrolling in bed and being influenced to buy things on Amazon late into the evening then causing anxiety about spending money on things I don’t need. A VERY TERRIBLY EMBARRASSING CYCLE OKAY!

The Numbers Don’t Lie

• Another thing I don’t want to admit but am going to anyway… my daily screen time was averaging 3-4 hours per day?!?! WTF.

• I was averaging picking my phone up every 8 minutes. Every. 8. Minutes.

• Social media usage was close to 2 hrs per day. NOTHING good can come from that, you’ll never convince me otherwise.

Social Situations

• The "phantom vibration" checks during conversations or meals with family and friends… unnecessary and rude but we all do it to each other I’ve noticed!

• I felt like I’ve been missing real life moments because I have to document everything. Maybe the photographer in me but sometimes it is okay to just soak up the memory instead of needing to document it.

Work Disruptions

• My inability to focus on deep work for more than 15 minutes… I know that’s bad…

• Having a Pavlovian response to every notification, ifykyk

• Too often I used my phone as a "quick brain break" that turned into 30 minutes lost and feeling even more drained.

There was no one true breaking point for me. I just hated doomscrolling then looking down to see my daughter staring at me confused…Our babies are impressionable and Lennon is starting to imitate everything. The last thing I want is for her to be so obsessed with a screen that she needs it for coping, activities, etc. There’s definitely a time and place for screens (like I can’t wait for Disney movies someday with her HAHA) but for now I want us all to have healthier relationships with it.

Cue… the Wisephone. Maybe this was extreme or maybe it is exactly what I needed… time is still telling lol. But for now, one week in, here’s what I’m noticing:

• I’m more present with Lennon. I’m able to keep my phone in a different room and not feel pulled to check it since it literally has nothing on it lol

• I’m sleeping waaaaaay bettter. Like way better…. and actually doing self care routines before bed now.

• I’m SO productive!!! I didn’t know I could even be this productive haha. But because I’m getting my work done so efficiently, I’m able to pick up Lennon earlier from daycare and thus achieving my goal of spending more time with her.

There have definitely been some headwinds with this adjustment but I can get into those later since this has been a meaty, v personal note today. But so far, I think the benefits are far outweighing the trickiness of having so many limitations on my phone.

PHEW okay, done telling you all of my embarrassing screentime addiction stories for now. Keep an eye out because later this week I’m going to send an exciting update in the photography-world. And here’s a sneak peak hehe, Motherhood Minis are about to be announced:

Talk to you later this week,

Chelsea