Changes

Read more. Scroll less. Those are two goals on my list for 2026. So far this year, the reading is going better, but the scrolling...not so much.

Honestly, almost everyone I know is working to break up with their scrolling habit. However, those app designers make it difficult. And Instagram? It's like a big bowl of french fries! Certainly, my retired status doesn't help much either.

Yesterday, while scrolling through the gram (ironic, right?) I read about how it's best to avoid your phone and all those fun apps for the first thirty minutes of the day. Grabbing my phone is usually one of the first things I do- mostly to check the time, but then I might see the need to play a round of Words With Friends. Eventually, one app leads to another, and I'm all in reading something linked from somewhere.

This morning I got up and left my phone alone. I headed downstairs, brewed up my morning coffee, and settled in with my book. It was quite relaxing, in fact, it was so relaxing that I read for almost an hour. Throughout the day, I worked to read rather than scroll when given a few minutes of downtime.

I like this thirty-minute rule; not only does it cut down on phone time, it also allows for more reading.