A Phone-free Morning Routine 📖🖌 (or, the Analog Legacy of a Modern Woman)

I was late to the party when it comes to owning a smart phone. I held off as long as I possibly could and even spent a few years with no phone at all. At this point though, I must admit, I have more than made up for that time without a smart phone. Each and every week I spend hours scrolling through instagram, tiktok, tumblr and listening to audiobooks. And while I can defend some of that time as research, content creation, and fun ... well, let's be honest here: a lot of that time spent on my phone is wasted time.

So, I am setting up a challenge for myself and that is to spend time each day working on my art first thing in the morning. That is the one and only rule. Some days I spend my breakfast hour sipping coffee and writing notes for an upcoming post here on Hive. Other days I collage over used pages in my notebook. And lately I have been working hard to finish a zine.

While I am eventually hoping that my phone will not be a part of my life as much as it is now, I have found that prohibiting the use of my phone only leads to me wanting to use it more. I am a rebel like that, even with my own rules.

One thing that has helped me keep my mornings phone-free is to clean off the table of all the random bits and bobs and only have the essentials: supplies for breakfast and a pile of my art/writing supplies.

And when it comes to art supplies I am very fortunate indeed. Over the years I have been gifted pens, notebooks, and water colors and often buy myself such items when budget permits. I have a notebook for writing projects, a notebook for sketches, and old notebooks that I am slowly turning into junk journals.

((my travel journal underneath and on top my old notebook for writing ideas for Hive posts, this particular page I am keeping collage-free because I am not yet finished with the ideas written on it))

If you haven't heard of this term before, a junk journal is a notebook that was once filled with words and is slowly being turned into a collection of collages. I have even seen people turn an old (unwanted) novel into a junk journal and covering up the printed word with their own creations. I might do this someday but, as an avid writer and journal-er I have a few notebooks full of my own writing which I am turning into a piece of art.

((Underneath is a notebook I once used for taking notes - now being turned into a junk journal and, on top a small notebook where I write advice and goals for my trips to my homecountry))

I have no philosophy or reason for doing this. I have no children to someday pass these books on to and I really doubt they would want them even if I did. But, as I treasure the one and only photo album of my mother's childhood which is full of photography of her pets, siblings, late mother I never got to spend time with, and clippings from newspapers ... well, I suppose there is a chance someone may find these collages interesting some day.

But, more than the eyes of any future viewer, I am creating these books for me, as an outlet of my creativity and a log of the ideas that ran through my mind, how my handwriting has changed with the years, even the fandom's I have participated in over the years.

((a map of Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, a type-writer written notes from a pen pal and a cute piece of horse-themed stationary))

So, when I am reaching for my phone first thing to the morning I think to myself: what log would I like to leave behind? Hours spent scrolling on insta, or a chaotic book of collage?