Our phones are a big part of everyday life. They help us communicate, work, navigate, learn and stay connected. So I don’t think the goal needs to be “phones are bad” or to stop using them. But I do think it can be useful to ask: Am I choosing when I use my phone, or am I just reaching for it automatically? Research has found associations between problematic smartphone use and higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms, although that doesn’t mean phones necessarily cause these problems. Sleep is another area where the relationship seems important. A meta-analysis found that greater smartphone use was associated with poorer sleep, and a large Danish study found that using your phone during the sleep period was particularly associated with disturbed sleep. So rather than trying to completely change how much you use your phone, here are 3 small habits you could experiment with: 🚶 1. Take a walk without your phone Leave your phone at home and go for a short walk. This has personally been especially helpful for me. I noticed that I had some anxiety around being away from my phone, so intentionally going for walks without it has helped me become more comfortable with not always having it available. Start small. It could just be a 10-minute walk. 🌙 2. Sleep with your phone outside the bedroom Instead of putting your phone next to your bed, find somewhere outside the bedroom where it stays overnight. This creates a physical boundary between your phone and your sleep. It also removes the opportunity to automatically check it when you wake up during the night. 🏠 3. Give your phone a home Choose one place in your home where you regularly leave your phone. It could be a shelf, table or charging station. Instead of carrying it around in your pocket from room to room, put it there when you don’t actually need it. Creating a little distance means that checking your phone becomes more of a choice rather than something you do automatically. 📝 Your challenge Choose one of these three habits and try it for the next week.

In the last post, we talked about changing habits by focusing on what we can add or do more of, instead of only focusing on what we need to stop. This time, I want to introduce another simple way of building new habits: habit stacking. The idea is pretty simple. Instead of trying to remember to do a new habit at a random time during the day, you connect it to something you already do regularly. The basic formula is: After I [existing habit], I will [new habit]. For example: ☕ After I make my morning coffee → I will drink a glass of water. 🪥 After I brush my teeth → I will take my medication/vitamins. 🍽️ After I finish dinner → I will go for a 10-minute walk. The existing habit becomes a kind of reminder or trigger for the new one. Over time, the two behaviours can start to feel connected. You don’t have to rely as much on motivation or remembering to do it — it becomes part of something you are already doing. 📝 Your exercise Think about one small habit you would like to build. Then think about something you already do consistently every day. It could be making coffee, brushing your teeth, eating lunch, getting home from work or getting into bed. Now put them together: After I __________, I will __________. Keep the new habit small and realistic. You can always build on it later. And just like with the previous exercises, think about your values. Try to choose a habit that moves you a little bit closer to the person you want to be. Small actions might not feel like much in the moment, but repeated over time, they can make a big difference. 🔺

In the last post, we talked about values and choosing the direction we want our actions to take. This time, I want to look at something very practical: changing habits. When we have a habit we want to change, we often focus on what we need to stop doing. “I need to drink less soda.” “I need to spend less time on my phone.” “I need to sit less.” But sometimes it can be more effective to ask a different question: What can I ADD to my life that might naturally reduce the behaviour I want less of? Instead of only trying to remove a behaviour, we introduce another behaviour that competes with it or takes its place. For example: 🥤 “I want to drink less soda.” → “I will drink 3 more glasses of water throughout the day.” Rather than constantly thinking about not drinking soda, the focus is on drinking more water. Over time, that may naturally leave less room for soda. 📱 “I want to spend less time on my phone.” → “I will read for 20 minutes before going to sleep.” Those 20 minutes now have a purpose. Instead of trying to resist scrolling, you are replacing some of that time with something else. 🚶 “I want to sit less during the day.” → “I will take a 10-minute walk after lunch.” Again, the focus changes from doing less to doing more of something helpful. 📝 Your exercise Think about one behaviour or habit you would like to do less of. Then ask yourself: What could I do MORE of that might naturally help me do less of it? Try to make your new behaviour small, specific and realistic. And if you did the values exercise, take it one step further: Can you choose a new behaviour that also moves you towards one of your values? You don’t always have to focus on what you need to stop. Sometimes change can start by deciding what you want to do more of ⚡️

For the first exercise, I want to focus on values. Values are basically the things that are important to us and the kind of person we want to be. They can help give us some direction in life and guide how we act, especially when things are difficult. Some examples of values could be: Family, honesty, courage, health, kindness, discipline, friendship, curiosity, growth, compassion, or responsibility. Values and goals are not the same I think it is important to understand the difference between a value and a goal. A goal is something you can achieve and eventually tick off. A value is more of a direction you want to keep moving towards. For example: 🏃 Goal: Run a half marathon. 🧭 Value: Health, perseverance or challenging yourself. Once you finish the half marathon, you have achieved the goal. But you don't really "finish" health or perseverance. You can continue trying to live by those values. The same could be with relationships. A goal might be to call a friend this week. The value behind it could be friendship, connection or being there for others. Why think about values? For me, values become especially important when life isn't going exactly how we want it to. We won't always feel motivated. We will have difficult days, make mistakes and sometimes struggle to do the things we know are good for us. Having an idea of what we want to stand for can help us decide what direction we want to take. 📝 The exercise Take a little time and think about: What is actually important to me? What kind of person do I want to be? How do I want to treat myself and the people around me? Then choose 3–5 values that you want to guide your actions. Write them down somewhere. And then think of one small thing you can do this week that is connected to one of those values. It doesn't need to be anything big. If one of your values is friendship, maybe you reach out to someone. If it's health, maybe you go for a walk or get to training. If it's courage, maybe you do something you've been avoiding.