Stop this bad habit

Leonardo Da Vinci started his day by writing down the things he wanted to learn that day.

Most people start their day by checking their phones for notifications and updates. This is not just a time consuming habit but also bad for your mental health. Here's why.

Let's take news. I've come to realize that not watching or reading any news is one of the best habits I've integrated to my life. News are generally negative. You can read about political fights, bombings, killings, disasters and all kinds of “bad” things.

Naturally reading about all that has an effect. If you start your day by reading about negative stuff, you tend to think more about negative stuff. The news paint a distorted picture of the world. They pick and choose the events. And newspapers usually pick the news that bring them the most money (clicks).

Let's take Instagram or Facebook. Right in the morning you see what cool stuff other people are doing, where they're travelling, partying etc. It's hard to not compare ourselves with others. It's possible to become inspired but it's also easy to become bitter. Either way it takes mental energy.

E-mail and all the instant messaging apps. Same Spiel. Unless you know you're waiting for a very important e-mail, there's no need to check it in the morning.

I like how Simon Sinek put it (I think it was him, I might be wrong though). Basically he said that if you're impulsively checking your phone, you give up your sovereignty. It's true if you think about it, it's the phone that's in control, not you.

Therefore, it's not a good way to start the day by draining ourselves right in the morning. Check your phone after breakfast the earliest.

If you're curious how smart-phones and impulsively using the Internet affects your brain, check out books like The Shallows by Nicholas Carr and Deep Work by Cal Newport.

As always, let's get better not bitter

KRISTJAN