How to avoid internet rabbit holes
Oh, hi friends!
The other day my friend Marsha asked if I had any advice on not getting sucked down an email or social media rabbit hole first thing in the morning.
I do! I don’t follow all of this advice all the time (or even some of it some of the time) but here are tips that have worked for me.
Totally basic, but seriously: get rid of notifications. I even removed the “news” widget that comes up when you swipe right on your iPhone. My phone is actually extremely boring!
Before you even open a text, ask yourself “Can I respond to this right now?” If you have precious early-morning minutes to respond and get into a conversation, yay! But if not, save the text until you have the time to think it over and shoot off a response. Otherwise, you run the risk of reading it, telling yourself, “I don’t have time right now to respond” and then letting the open loop take up space in your brain all day. (My nightmare.)
Find one morning thing that makes you happy. I wake up hungry. It is my gift and curse. So basically every minute I spend on something random in the morning — like emails or texts — is a minute further away from my oatmeal and coffee. I LOVE MY OATMEAL AND COFFEE. Find something you want to get to other than your phone.
Hide it. Yesterday I put my phone in a closet. (A new apartment means new weird routines!) But I’m positive that one move is why I was able to write a story, have a Zoom collab, attend the BMI workshop, edit a piece, and write this newsletter. Yes, I missed out on some fun texts and felt a little disconnected, but I was able to understand exactly where my time went — something I definitely can’t say on those days when my phone is within arm’s reach.
And remember: All those messages will be there later, when you have the time and space to receive them.
“hair dryer storage pedestal sink”
This is what I googled all week trying to find a small bathroom storage cabinet or container. (Requirements: Not see-through, 10 inches wide maximum.) Sooo, not as inspiring as my usual quotes, but like the rest of this newsletter, this is a reflection of my brain right now!!
The Most Important To-Do on the List
I’m heading back to Brooklyn today to vote! It has been so exciting to watch friends and strangers posting from their early voting locations and to see the incredible national turnout so far.
Go to Vote.org to check your registration, find early voting locations and polling places, locate a dropbox, and find everything else you need.
I write a lot about making definitive choices about the things that matter to you — and, well, there’s nothing more important than choosing in this election and making your voice heard.
Hope you're as excited as I am to make a plan, get it done, and move forward.
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You can also support my work by checking out my new motivational journal, Do It For Yourself, designed to guide you through your creative and work projects.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara