Intently

7:10 amAttention

Whatever holds your attention holds your day.

The morning is loud. Before you look, take one slow breath.

Press and hold for about four seconds, or tap once to be guided.

1,460 hours a year: about91 full waking days.

A waking day is sixteen hours. Nothing you choose leaves this page.

Most of us never decide to spend an hour on our phone. We decide to check one thing, and an hour happens. The fix isn't more willpower. It's a gap: one breath between the urge and the tap.

Hold to breathe

4 hours a day

1,460 hours a year

91 waking days, every year

At four hours a day, a phone takes 1,460 hours a year: about 91 full waking days.

Questions to sit with

  • Which app do you open without deciding to?
  • What would you like to be the first thing you see each morning?
  • What did you notice the last time your phone was in another room?

A practice for today

One breath before the tap

Pick one app you open too often. Each time you reach for it today, take one slow breath first and ask yourself what you came for.

If you have an answer, go ahead. If you don't, that's your answer.

The app we made for this

Respite (for iPhone, Android and Chrome) puts that breath in for you: a short, kind pause before the apps you choose, with gentle daily limits.