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The First 30 Minutes Belong To Me
We all do it.
We wake up and we grab our phones. It’s in perfect reach since we charge it right next to our bed. For many of us, we don’t even realize that it’s routine. This morning reminded me why I need to dedicate the first 30 minutes to an hour to anything but my phone.
The buzz that woke me up was a text sharing the news of Migos’ rapper Takeoff’s death. As a lover of music and specifically hip hop, the news was shocking. It certainly was not the first thing I wanted to see while arising from my slumber. Death is still extremely difficult to comprehend, and no matter how the announcement is made or who its vicitm is, it causes you to question everything. If we couple this with the images of the individual’s lifeless body floating around on the internet, we put ourselves and our mental health in a risky position.
I put my phone down and decided to take a break from the socials. My mood was affected, and I found myself getting upset that this text was sent so early. I was angry that it was the first thing that I saw when I opened my eyes.
Anger came first, a lesson came next. I had to do the work to reset my day. In reading more about why we shouldn’t reach for our phones first in the AM, a 2019 Huffington Post article shares that, “checking your smartphone first thing in the morning will do several…
