The Itch; Prolonging Peace of Mind

The relationship I have with my phone his changed throughout spending time in faraway time zones. In many hours of the day, checking it is completely futile. After all who’ll be up messaging me at 3am in the morning?

But, if it wasn’t strong enough already, that gravitational pull you feel to check your notifications after waking up in the morning—especially after oversleeping—is heightened even further. That itch in your head frustrates as you lie there. You wish your mind could just be a calm sea, enabling relaxation, but instead, it’s filled with waves of anxieties and premonitions and insecurities.

How many calls may I have missed from back home? Did I forget to reply to someone before I went to bed? What massive, fleeting opportunity came and went in my slumber?

Swiping up on your notifications can so easily be your very first action for the day. It makes sense. But the price can be high. It might define your day, sending you down a cascade of chasing loose ends, stress, and being absorbed by yet another screen.

It takes constant reminding, but leaving my phone entirely for the first few hours of a day consistently brings me peace of mind. No one else dictates how I use my time except myself in that period.

Sure, sometimes I do miss things that I otherwise could’ve controlled. Messages crop up that I definitely could’ve responded to if I just checked earlier. Maybe I would’ve been able to help schedule in that crucial tutoring session. I’ll see that reminder that I left, relating to something important next morning.

But, the majority of times, it doesn’t matter. Your worst case anxiety almost always lives in your head. Plus, if everyone back home is asleep, there’s nothing you can really do about it anyway. It doesn’t matter if you reply now, or in eight hours. They’ll still see it when they wake up.