Sacred Mornings Sans Technology
Access to information is no longer a luxury; for many, it’s becoming a necessity like the air we breathe. For most of us, our work day starts with accessing digital information via multiple devices, checking email, texts, RSS feeds, social networks, weather, stock quotes, and other stats. The drive is to stay current—to be on top of things—highlighting a major trend called Infolust, and it’s only getting more severe.
Try observing your internal mental and physical state right before you interact with technology, especially in the morning. Tuning in to how you feel, you may notice that your mind enters a state of expectancy as your heart rate increases, your breathing quickens and becomes more shallow, and you feel a slight rush (you may even detect a release of adrenalin).
Your attention immediately gets fragmented as you start multitasking and leaping from one application or website to another. In fact, technology is rewriting our brains each day as we adapt to digitally-driven lifestyles.
Notice how you feel when you engage with technology first thing in the morning. Do you feel calm and centered or neurotic and unfocused? If you tend to the latter, I have a radical suggestion: don’t touch technology in the morning.
I can hear you gasping for air as though I’ve spoken heresy, but you may discover important benefits as I have. By eliminating the use of technology in the morning—until a pre-set time—you’ll reduce the negative effects of digital addiction and you’ll be able to maintain a deeper level of focus throughout the day.
If you’re up for an experiment, here are a few guidelines:
- Make a commitment with yourself to not touch any technological devices before a certain time each morning. You set the time, depending on your lifestyle. If you commute to work and tend to check email before you leave, try waiting until you get to the office. If you work from home, set a time (at least a few hours after you wake up) and stick to it.
- Create a morning routine that you enjoy, something that empowers you and gets you focused and ready for the day. See last week’s post for more suggestions.
- If you find this experiment beneficial, try pushing your technology “start time” later and later into the day.
The morning can be a sacred time for reflection, quietude, and peace. It can help you set the tone for the day, leaving you in a more grounded state, better equipped to handle the challenges of the day.
If you don’t honor the quiet, unplugged time in the morning, the digital addiction will dictate where you spend your time. You’ll unconsciously walk the pathway of the neurotic. Your ability to focus and concentrate will continue to weaken.
Reclaim your sacred mornings and reap the immediate rewards.
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Great idea. I’ve enjoyed a cup of coffee in the morning surrounded by nature. In that contemplative state, I feel like I am “being” rather than “doing” something. I love the term “infolust.” Captures the total experience.
Thanks, Todd. I dig your morning ritual!
So … I think I’m an addict.
I think I’ve actually “taught” my body to jump-start into action by checking email … like, I’m in a stupor until then. In fact, I don’t even like waking up before I “have” to be up to start working during the week (or more aptly, I looooooove sleeping).
*Sigh*
This, I must overcome. And by virtue of the fact that I’ve decided I need to discipline myself to do it, I’m doomed to failure.
So, easy does it, one day at a time, how the hell am I gonna manage this … I must, I must …
Indeed, re-programming takes time, patience, discipline, and perseverance. But the rewards are great — on so many levels if you can develop the fortitude and discipline to disconnect from technology at will and condition yourself so that your mornings are your own — instead of being at the demand of emails, IMs, etc.