Living well / Column
The phone can wait until after your coffee
A small morning experiment in giving the first few minutes of the day to something other than a screen.
Before the kettle has finished, the day can already belong to everybody else. A message, a headline and a calendar reminder are enough to turn a quiet kitchen into a crowded room.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to know what is happening. But you can choose when the conversation begins. For one morning, perhaps the phone stays where you left it until you have finished your drink.
Keep the experiment small
No special timer or elaborate morning ritual is required. Look out of the window. Listen to whatever is happening in the house. Decide what you would like for breakfast.
If waiting feels inconvenient, notice that too. The point is not to prove you can go without your phone; it is to see whether those few minutes feel different when they are yours to spend.
Choose what comes next
When you pick it up, choose what you want to open. A message to a friend is a different beginning from an automatic tour of every app.
Tomorrow might be an early train or a rushed school morning. You can return to the experiment another day, without turning a pleasant pause into another obligation.
