Create before Consuming

​Today I made the commitment that I would not look at my phone, specifically social media or emails first thing in the morning. In fact, I told myself I had to wait until at least 9am before I could dive into the world of seeing what other people are doing and thinking.  I decided to do what Ange Peters calls "Create before I Consume". 

So I got up with Audrey (at 5:30am mind you), we watched the sunrise together, I meditated and journaled while she ate breakfast, we read books while I sipped coffee, We went out for an early walk in Fort Tryon Park where we took a different path than we have ever taken and found something new and beautiful (of which I have no pictures because I purposely left my phone at home), then came home and together created brand new chalkboard wall art in our kitchen. 

This brought us to about 11am or so and it turns out that I didn't actually attend to my emails, my work, or any social media today until roughly Noon.  And you know what?  It was awesome!  I got to spend the entire morning with my daughter, completely phone free and then spend the afternoon doing all of the work that I had on my plate for the day.  And here's the thing, I had a TON of work to do, but it got done all in the span of several hours time because I was so ready and able to focus on it.  I wasn't being pulled in both directions of wanting to be there for Audrey while also wanting to jump right in to the excitement I have for my work.  This has been my biggest struggle when it comes to working from home, I haven't compartmentalized and disciplined my time.  

Most of all, I wasn't at all consumed from the start with what was going on in the lives of others today and simply got to be present for my own.  It felt great and I am confident it made a huge difference in how the day unfolded.  And so, I am going to adopt that practice of turning my phone on airplane mode the night before when I power down for the day and not check in with anything that may consume me until much later than I have been.  I am going to focus on myself, my daughter, my husband and our day at the start of each day. The work will get done, the emails and DMS will get answered (possibly even faster) and the consumption will still happen because I really do love me some Instagram...just not before I spend time actually creating my life first.