This list is more for me than it is for you.
I’m a chronic checker of email and social media, and though these things can be beneficial, they can also be an absolutely ridiculous waste of time.
So I came up with a list of things I can do instead of checking my email or Twitter or Facebook. I hope it’ll be helpful.
It’s hard to flat out stop something, so let that checky urge be a cue for you to do something different. Also, it can’t be too hard of a thing or you won’t do it instead.
So, turn your phone face down (unless the task tells you otherwise) and give something on this list a shot when you’re tempted to waste time on the social network de jour.
Save the good ones. Print this list. Add it to your home screen. Steal it and add your own. However you want to use it, it’s yours.[footnote]Bonus points and high fives all around if you do all of them in one day and don’t check social media at all.[/footnote]
- Pray for wisdom.
- Text a friend to encourage them.
- Read one page of a book.
- Drink a glass of water.
- Get up and walk around the room.
- Come up with one idea.
- Stretch.
- Write one line in your journal.
- Ask someone nearby how their day is going.
- Doodle.
- Take a picture of something. [footnote]Selfies don’t count.[/footnote]
- Clean your workspace.
- Add something to your bucket list.
- Write down a task you might forget.
- Check your calendar for upcoming events.
- Take five deep breaths.
- Offer to help someone around you.
- Thank God for another day.
- Write down three things you’re grateful for.
- Edit a picture you took.
- Delete an app you don’t use from your phone.
- Start that thing you don’t want to start.
- Find a piece of clutter to give away.
- Write a note to someone, just because.
- Do a push up.
- Clean something small–like your glasses or computer screen or water bottle.
- Pick one thing you have to get done today and start it.
- Read a quote you’ve saved.
- Memorize the first few words of a passage of scripture.
- Think of a mistake you made today that you can improve on.
- Write your first line of your morning manifesto.
- Re-read part of your morning manifesto.
- Think of a habit you want to start.
- Break down a hard task by taking the first tiny step you can take to tackle it.
- Make a to-do list.
- Turn on your favorite song.
- Read an old journal entry.
- Take a minute to think about a problem you haven’t solved yet.
- Write down a childhood memory.