How to Break Up With Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life

by Catherine Price

One way to start is to devote a period of time every day – for example, your walk to work or class – toward actively focusing on something. You could think about a project or problem you’re working on professionally or personally. Or you can work on strengthening some mental skill, such as multiplying two-digit numbers in your head. (Don’t knock it before you try it.) The idea is to build your capacity for focus by, well, focusing. You can also play around with other informal practices. For example, you could take a “music bath”: get comfortable and close your eyes as you listen to a favourite piece of music as closely as you can, trying to pick out each individual instrument. You could write in a journal, or go to a yoga class, or send a handwritten letter to a friend or relative or mentor. Or, you could do something even more straightforward: read – in print, and with your phone off. Not only can getting lost in a book be a very relaxing and restorative experience, but it’s also exactly the type of mental exercise that strengthens our attention spans and encourages deep and creative thought.