NikithaI woke up late today. I was irritated that the medicine I took makes me drowsy. There I put the blame of my over sleep on medicine.One negative thought makes you do another negative thing. I switched on data on my mobile to get some spice in my life. That was the next worst thing I did.
What do you think are the chances of it making my day brighter?
50-50?
No. It is not 50-50. It depends on what messages you expect from whom. If you text all good people in the night before sleep, you get good messages. Otherwise, it will not be. Let’s keep math for another day.
Now coming back to notifications, irrespective of whether they are good or bad in tone, they are bad for you.
Why bad notifications are bad?
Have you noticed that when you learn a new word, you will starting seeing that word everywhere?
Similarly when you start your day with negativity, you will be seeing more of negative happenings throughout the day. Not that your day becomes negative, but your focus shifts to negative activity
Why good notifications are bad?
Good notifications produce dopamine. Dopamine is the hormone which asks for more. It sets your day to ‘bring it on more’ mode. When you don’t get them more, you will start feeling frustrated and depressed. Since your mind is craving for it subconsciously, you can’t focus fully on any task.
Now that we have come to an agreement that notifications are bad for our health, how can we avoid them first thing in the morning?
I have previously tried these and they gave me wonderful results.
- Close all the conversations in the night: If you are waiting for a text from the previous night, you are more likely to check the notification on phone.
- Notifications from social media: What others are upto in their life is none of your business when it comes to priorities in life. How much others love you on social media also does not determine what you have to do today. So it does not make any sense at all to check these notifications.
What to do instead?
- Dump your thoughts: Brain gets good rest in deep sleep. You might get solutions for your problems during that rest time. Even if not for that, you can dump your early morning anxieties. When I start writing the first thing in the morning, I write about the dreams which I got in sleep. Dreams usually tell a little about our concerns in life.
- Read a book: Previously I used to read quora or Medium. Now I read a book so that I get the same happiness that prior ones gave. One idea in the morning will bring a lot more ideas during the day.
I am waiting to hear what makes you connect to the internet first thing in the morning. Do let me know in the comments section!
Happy getting rid of your bad habit!
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