I was having a much-coveted weekday lie-in when my four-year-old bounded in to inform me it was time to get dressed. Shocked to find I had wasted nearly two hours scrolling mindlessly through my phone instead of resting, I got out of bed feeling more mentally exhausted than on mornings when I get up at the crack of dawn.
My husband has been complaining about my screen addiction for months. I brushed it off. But somehow those two precious lost hours jolted me into recognition: my phone was controlling me.
Pondering what sort of digital diet to put myself on, I came across Mind Over Tech, founded by former sculptor and web developer Jonathan Garner. About five years ago, Garner was having a personal crisis. He noticed, as I had, that part of his mental disquiet came from having limited control over his attention when he used his phone. “I was setting out to do one task but being sidetracked into something totally different. I was scrolling through Twitter before I even knew my phone was unlocked.”