I am happy to report that my phone usage has dropped to an average of 4 hours a day compared to my pre-challenge 6 hours average in best case scenraios.

My Whatsapp usage didn’t decrease overall, however my whatsapp scattered screentime has been optimized and I found the challenge getting easier in week 2 as I updated Whatsapp rules to the following:

1. Whatsapp’s hourly usage is open until 9am when I get to work due to the voice notes I love to send and receieve from my friends who wake up early especially during my walk or commute.
2. I block whatsapp when I start getting dressed and applying makeup to leave for work because I might get distracted by messages if I check them.
3. I set work profile for whatsapp as 7 minutes/hour until 6pm.
4. If I need whatsapp for work communciations I use whatsapp web which I don’t think is distracting at all.
5. I still block whatsapp between 6pm and 9pm, this step has had the most magical impact on my evening routine and impproved quality of attention to my family.

I am getting bored fast with gmail and I kept the habit of cheking it after lunch break as a transitional activity between break and work.

I have noticed that I am remebering my dreams vividly since starting this challenge. It’s like the decrease in images entering my brain is making it easier for my brain to retrieve its own creations. Interesting, no?

I am also reflecting on the importance of real-time sharing. Do I really need to stop reading and share that book quote snapshot with my groups on spot? Is it really necessary to interrupt admiring the sunset and start talking about the beauty of its image with family memebers? Do I have to share the kid’s cute game while they are playing it and thus leave them? if not physially, attentionally?

This is something I will really take into account when ending this challenge. I love to share cool things I read or photos I take or podcasts I listen to. Changing this might mean I take screenshots or photos all day and share them all at a specific time with my family and friends, or add them to to my social media stories. I will always remember what I wanted to share if I just look into my gallery. If I feel the urge I will say to myself why now? can it wait? maybe add it to my awesome weekly newsletter?  Let’s see where this goes.

Read all about week 1 here.

You can listen to this update in Arabic in episode 16 of my podcast below:

https://bardees.simplecast.com/episodes/16