To Protect Your Yes - Say “No”

I just completed a 10 day phone digital detox where I deleted my two biggest vices, Instagram and Tik Tok from my phone. In saying No to my socials on my phone, I found myself having more time for an unanticipated routine.

Prior to the digital detox, my regular social media usage occurred throughout the day at random times, when I was eating lunch, had a break between projects or meetings, or I would sneak a few minutes in the kitchen when making dinner while my kids were in the living room. I would have a day-long drip of dopamine throughout the day, adding up to a few hours a day. 

When I went cold turkey and deleted the apps (and it was a challenge, by Day 2 I was jonesing pretty bad for a hit) I found myself with a compulsion to check my phone and I had to find new ways to fill the void. I found ways to fill the void like taking a walk, reading a light hearted book, or even cleaning (more on this in a future post). 

An unexpected outcome bubbled up though, in that when I removed social media from my phone, I had more hours of my day for other things and one of those things that I started to do was to read to my kids before bed, every night. 

Now, I always had a goal to read to my kids every night, but it was one that I was not 100% committed to. If we had the time, I would do it, but more times than not, we would run out of time and I would rather them go to sleep on time than read a book.

Well, lo and behold, after removing social media from my phone I wasn’t spending 15 minutes in between meetings checking my socials - which resulted in a longer work day, nor was I spending 15 minutes on my socials while cooking dinner  which resulted in eating later in the evening. Suddenly I had more than enough time at night to read to my children and get them in bed on time! 

Over the course of those 10 days we read books every night and have all enjoyed our new routine. 

I knew the phone digital detox would make me a changed woman in many ways, but I did not know reading to my kids consistently was going to result. In saying no to social media on my phone for 10 days, I found myself saying yes to making beautiful bed time reading memories with my children. 

We all have 24 hours in a day, so anytime we say NO to something, we will create time to say YES to something else, and vice versa. I intended to say NO to my phone in order to say YES to an improved mental health state, and I got that, but I also got an unexpected bedtime reading outcome with my children (who will only be little for so many years before they don’t want me to read with them any more) and to that, I am grateful.

What are you saying NO to so that you can say YES to something that better serves you in the season you are in?