I shared a few months ago that I was reading a book called ‘how to break up with your phone’. It provided a 30 day challenge to get rid of the habits I disliked about how I used my phone (over-checking it and reducing the 3 hours + that I find myself spending on it each day).

It was a really useful and thought provoking exercise to go through, one which has changed my relationship with my phone…but I still find myself on it a lot. And at the moment that’s ok.

I’ve got a 14 week old baby and a lot of the time I find myself trapped on the sofa under him as he’s sleeping. Reading a book or magazine is impractical when I find myself in this situation as the movement of turning the pages wakes him up and is not very comfortable for me. So I look at my phone. I catch up with friends on WhatsApp, write on my blog (as I’m doing now!), plan my trips abroad…and that’s ok.

This is a time where I have to come to peace with looking at my phone more than usual to keep my sanity.

But I have recognised the unhealthy aspects of my phone use and the book has really helped with that. I’ve realised how I mostly look at my phone when I feel awkward in social situations or to distract myself from uncomfortable feelings like anxiety, boredom or stress instead of dealing with them.

And with this awareness comes an ability to choose. Do I really want to use my phone to avoid tough feelings or can I sit with them until they vanish or instead reach out to someone.

So I haven’t broken up with my phone completely, but I have started to redefine my relationship with it and that is exactly what I needed to do.