Be honest, how often do you wake up and look at your phone first thing in the morning? It’s become the norm to wake up and start the day by checking messages, doom scrolling social media, and perhaps catching up on overnight headlines.
Many of us wouldn’t even think twice about this, but sociologist Caitlin Begg of New York City, now refuses to start her mornings this way.
Like most of us, Begg, 30, used to look at her phone first most mornings, but she told Newsweek that she felt that her “screen time was too high,” especially after the pandemic.
“Smartphones are an important and useful part of daily life, but I didn’t want to be over reliant on my phone,” Begg, the founder of Authentic Social, an applied research lab at the intersection of sociology and technology, said.
As a result, she made a conscious effort to improve her habits in 2022. She made a new year’s resolution to be more creative, and it became clear that the best way of increasing her creativity was to reduce screen time. She also came off TikTok to see if that led to any significant changes—unbeknownst to her, that was something she’d maintain for three years.
Caitlin Begg, 30, discussing her reasons for reading nonfiction every morning.
@caitybegg / TikTok
After decreasing her social media usage, Begg, who also hosts the podcast Progression to Analog, was able to fall back in love with reading. For several months, she would pick up a book instead of her phone at various points in the day, even if only for a few quick pages.
“My ‘aha’ moment came in September 2022, on a rainy morning in Maine. I woke up and my phone was dead across the room, and I couldn’t find my charger,” Begg said.
She continued: “My book, Society of the Spectacle [by Guy Debord] was right next to my bed, so I decided to sit by the window and read. It had taken me months to read the first half of the book, and I finished the final half in a few hours that morning. I noticed that my brain felt different and lighter without morning screen time. I no longer had phone brain.”
Doing something analog rather than digital had such an instant impact, so Begg tailored her morning routine to ensure she carried this on. For almost three years, she has started every morning by reading nonfiction before looking at any electronic devices.
Indeed, Begg no longer keeps the phone in her bedroom, as she tries to give herself as much space from electronics as possible. She and her husband have even bought an alarm clock, meaning they don’t have to rely on phones to wake them up.
This aligns with a 2018 study from the University of East London which concluded that going to bed without smartphones in the room improves sleep quality, relationships, focus, and wellbeing.
Some mornings, Begg only has time to read a page or two, while other mornings she can read for over an hour. Either way, she makes sure that’s the first thing she does each day because it’s helped to increase her happiness and creativity, while also reducing anxiety and screen time.
Of course, there are some mornings when it’s harder to maintain, but Begg feels far more present, finds it easier to focus, and it’s helped her to get through hundreds of books since 2022.
“This habit has radically transformed my life,” Begg told Newsweek. “One of the reasons why checking your phone in the morning is so harmful has to do with sleep inertia—the transitional phase between sleep and being awake. Essentially, if we begin our day scrolling, it can lead to higher screen time throughout the day.”
Think about it this way—your alarm has just gone off, you can hardly open your eyes, so you grab your phone to delay having to get out of bed. You’ve barely even woken up and yet you’re bombarded with information to process.
This can leave you feeling drained before you’ve even started the day, and in some cases, it can activate your stress response. Ever wondered why you feel pessimistic or in a bad mood before you’ve even had your morning coffee?
Having recently returned to social media, Begg shared a video on TikTok (@caitybegg) about the positive impacts of reading first thing each morning. In just a matter of days, the video has gone viral with over 305,100 views and more than 29,400 likes at the time of writing.
By sharing her experiences, she hopes to help others make positive changes and improve their relationships with their smartphones.
“It’s very important with these types of habit changes that they integrate into your general lifestyle, so it can vary from person to person. The reaction on social media has been overwhelmingly positive. So many people have commented saying they’d like to make similar changes in their own life,” Begg said.
Reading certainly isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other analogue ways of achieving this wellbeing boost. Begg also recommends meditating, exercising, making breakfast, or even just showering and getting ready “without going on your phone.”
Changing that routine in some way could make a world of difference.