How we wake up (a birth of sorts) shapes the hours that follow. How we prepare for sleep (a death of sorts) informs the quality of our rest. If you let your phone dictate these moments, you cede attentional control to digital platforms. We must treat these two moments as sacred, on our own terms.
A prerequisite
Get your phone out of the bedroom (unless you’re in an emergency-on-call role). If you use your phone as an alarm, stop. Use a dedicated alarm clock. I use Hatch Sleep for its soundscapes, meditations, and lighting, but even a $10 kitchen timer works. Single-function devices are the antidote to fragmented attention.
To start your day
To end your day
Engage in a screen-free ritual: meditate, read, stretch, journal. Let the events of the day settle before you move into sleep.
Do this, and you’ll create an intentional space between waking and the rest of the day, and between the day you lived and the sleep to come. Digital platforms are primed to hijack moments of sacred presence. Rebel.
Your challenge
For the next seven days, remove your phone from the bedroom, get a dedicated alarm clock, and choose one activity for the first 20 minutes after waking and the last 20 minutes before sleep. Track what changes in your thoughts, physical experience, mood, and presence. Tell me (or someone you trust) what you notice.
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