No Phones Before Bed Challenge Worksheet

This month in the SIS we’re focusing on habits for our whole self. Are you into habit tracking? There’s an app for that!

one sec

This app adds a little bit of friction between you and the instant gratification of social media. Choose what apps you want a little reminder about. As the app loads, a screen will come up and ask you to take a breath. Then it will ask: Do you really want to use this app right now?

If you do, awesome!

But if you opened it because you were bored or looking for a quick fix, you can choose what you want the app to do next, like open your Kindle app to read a book instead.

The Happier app

Gretchin Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and guru of habit keeping, has released an app. She’s a proponent of the “don’t break the chain” method of habit tracking, but there are many other challenges to sign up for. 

I love that her message always centers around happiness and how habits can help build overall life satisfaction.

The SIS app

Shameless plug here, but I’m so dang proud of the app we released last year! It offers quick access to daily workouts, weekly meal plans, and an amazing community of women. 

The one sec app shows us that a little bit of friction makes a big difference in achieving our goals; for good or bad. The Happier app shows us that healthy habits add up to increase overall happiness. The SIS app makes those tangible steps towards our goals super accessible and builds in the. best. accountability buddies.

These apps are great. But what if the really healthy habit is to use your phone less?

Plot twist: That’s our challenge this month!

Seriously, my life is on my phone. I live far away from relatives and friends. Social media is a big part of my career. Think of all the things a phone replaces: A camera, books, MP3 player, calculator; on and on. I’m definitely not bashing smartphones. They’re pretty awesome, honestly.

But here’s a sneaky habit that I know is harming my overall health: Scrolling at bedtime. I tell myself I’m just going to check a few notifications, check my DM with a friend, etc, and then I’m sucked into scrolling reels and it’s a half hour later.

What’s the harm?

It’s not the scrolling itself that’s the problem. It’s a harmless way to unwind, maybe get a few giggles, connect with friends. It’s that it’s right at bedtime. Blue light is a stimulant to our brain and makes it much harder to fall asleep. It can throw off our circadian rhythm, making us more tired in the daytime.

It’s probably cutting in to our sleep time. When I say I’m getting eight hours of sleep, I count from when I lay down. If I’m scrolling when I’m “sleeping,” I’m probably not getting an honest count.

Then there’s just the intentionality around it. Is it what I REALLY want to be doing? Or am I getting absorbed in the ways social media apps design us to stick around?

Definitely check out those apps I suggested for the daytime hours. But for nighttime-no-phones, I made a printable worksheet. It’d be pretty silly to have a tech tool to track not using your tech tool, amiright?

Social media gets you to stay with likes and notifications. Hang this poster in a place you will see it regularly and can track your progress. I wrote to cross off a phone for each night you go without your phone before bed, but I think some gold stars would add some flair.

Check in with the SIS community this month for our April Rise + Grind. We’re focusing on healthy whole self habits like this one.