Put it down! Why you shouldn't look at your phone when you first wake up

It's the morning. Your alarm goes off. You reach over to grab your phone so you can turn it off and after you do, you check your email, then WhatsApp, then the weather, and the next thing you know, you’ve spent 10 minutes scrolling through everything you missed while you were asleep.

We’ve all been there. Even a multimillionaire with plans to colonize Mars. Elon Musk admitted in an interview that he has the bad habit of checking his phone first thing in the morning, and that he thinks it could be detrimental to his health. And he’s right.

By grabbing your phone first thing in the morning and immediately diving into the online world, you force your body and brain to go straight to being wide awake and alert.

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When you first wake up in the morning your brain switches from delta waves, which occur in a deep sleep state, to theta waves, which occur during a sort of daydreamy state.

Afterwards it moves to produce alpha waves when you are awake but are relaxed and not processing much information.

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‘Scientific American’ reports that "the ideation that can take place during the theta state is often free flow and occurs without censorship or guilt." This makes theta state an ideal time to tap into your subconscious mind to visualize what you want.

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Research shows that in alpha state (when your brain isn't totally at rest, but it’s not attempting to tackle anything big that requires concentration), meditating can help produce even more alpha waves.

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When checking your phone right after waking up, you go directly to being wide awake, skipping the theta and alpha states, and so, priming your brain for distraction and stress.

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Seeing or reading something negative first thing in the morning, like bad news, for instance, can trigger your stress response and put you on edge for the rest of the day.

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Similarly, if you see unanswered work emails, you may feel compelled to respond even while you’re still lying in bed.

When you first wake up in the morning, your creative brain is most attuned, so it’s important to use this time to create the conditions you want for your day and for your life.

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Consider using this time in the morning for more constructive activities like taking a walk in the park, exercising, meditating or doing any mindfulness activity.

However, consider planning what is it you’d like to do in the morning, because if you don’t think about it, it's easy to slip back into old habits and return to using your phone first thing.

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If you want to remove the temptation, you can put your phone on airplane mode before you go to sleep. In that way, you won’t be greeted with notifications when you wake up and your alarm will still work.

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Better yet, you can put your phone in a different room while sleeping  and be forced to get out of bed when your alarm goes off.

Unlike checking your smartphone, meditating and exercise can decrease stress and help you become more focused and productive.

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So tomorrow morning, instead of reaching for your phone as soon as you’ve switched off your alarm, choose consciously to get into a better headspace that will benefit your health long-term.

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