I broke up with my mobile phone

Two weeks ago, I decided to break up with my mobile phone. It was necessary, it didn’t understand how much it was intruding on my time. Apple wanted to intrude on my conversations with others, my meal times, my privacy in the shower and toilet, it even wanted to be the last one I said good night to and the first one I saw in the morning. Apple was so damn needy and I bought into it. I hated it. Considering that Apple plays such a significant part in my business I couldn’t just ditch it but I did need to cut some significant ties, no more holding hands with it at every waking moment, it was time for it to become an employee and nothing else.

Initially, Apple wasn’t fond of the silent treatment I delivered it with every single day. Every time I ate I ignored him. Every time I went to the bathroom he was locked out. Every time I went to bed he was told he didn’t add enough value to stay as a current fixture in my bedroom. It was tough. I didn’t realize that cutting ties would be so difficult, the first few days I struggled to be consistent but 3 days in I had it down pat. Ignorance was in fact bliss. It’s not something I had practiced in any other aspect of my life, the truth is I absolutely hate it when people ignore others, talk about devaluing people, but this phone of mine it had wormed its way into my life as if it was a person and I was tired of paying attention to it.

I guess this happens to a lot of people in the business. You know that you must keep in contact with customers, affiliates, businesses you network with, even competitors and it feels like it can’t stop because if it does, business stops. I felt like a business became my entire life though and I knew that productivity was lessening. I couldn’t keep it up. After all, I couldn’t entirely remember in the 2 weeks prior what meals I had eaten and if I had even liked them because my mind was focussed on the goals, the checklist, the top 3 must-dos for the week. Being stubborn about my goals and not flexible about the methods was a mistake that jeopardized my health. I recognized this when began scheduling my time differently, putting the phone away, and analyzing exactly how my health, wellbeing, and business productivity had been impacted. The results were alarming.

Despite switched my phone off during meals each day, taking a walk, spending time doing something that I loved each day, and meditating regularly I was still exhausted. I decided to track my sleep patterns via an application called Sleep Cycle. What did I find? I averaged 1 hour of deep sleep a night and many nights I only had 30 minutes of deep sleep. Some nights 5 hours of the 6.5hours of sleep I was essentially awake with my eyes closed. I couldn’t believe it. No wonder I felt constantly tired. No wonder trying to do 1.5hours of physical activity per day was a chore, I simply wasn’t sleeping. Over the rest of the 2 weeks, I spent time disconnecting from my phone before I went to sleep, approximately an hour before I slept. The first night I did this I had 7 hours of deep sleep! WOW! It was clear that I was overdue for a decent nap, it also explained why I felt the need for caffeine more often, why I felt like I was working from pillar to post and not resting. I was definitely working hard with my business but I wasn't helping myself by staying connected all hours of the day. When I researched sleep patterns the Science told me the average is 2 solid hours of deep sleep per night. It was clear I was definitely in need of decent sleep for a very long time. Instead of bashing myself with hatred over my incapability to break up with Apple sooner, I started fresh, I made sleep tracking a new habit. The more I detached from Apple every night before bed the better sleep I got. I am proud to say it has continued, I even have a dorky little fascination with guessing how much deep sleep I'll get each night versus REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and so on! As a result of my efforts, I have more calm in my life than I have had in about a month. My business ideas have completely flourished. Instead of thinking ‘where are my ideas’ I find myself in the constant abundance of amazing ideas. I find writing easy, I’ve had time to start tackling next year’s goals and I feel fresh. 

Breaking up with Apple and making the relationship a working one alone has positively transformed my business. I know other business owners need to hear about how they too can break up with Apple, Sammie (Samsung), or Ros (Microsoft).  To help others I have created this awesome graphic to help you maintain a positive relationship with your mobile phone and your business. Use it to help you detox from technology, snap a photo of you implementing this technology detox with #julestechdetox, and please share with me how your mobile phone break up goes, I’d love to know!

All the best,

Julia