We Could All Learn Something from Jeff Bezos
By Movieguide® Contributor
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos starts his day “puttering.”
That means he does his mornings “in a relaxed way, without rushing or trying very hard,” and among coffee and breakfast, it means no screen time.
Bezos’ fiancé, Lauren Sanchez, called mornings her “favorite part of the day,” in a recent interview with PEOPLE.
“I love waking up. I make myself a cup of coffee. I make Jeff a cup of coffee, and we kind of have this magic moment where it’s just us talking,” Sanchez explained. “The kids haven’t woken up yet. And we don’t get on our phones. That’s one of the rules.”
“He definitely made that rule,” she added. “It wasn’t me. But the mornings are just us for as long as we can.”
So why does Bezos, who has tech to thank for his fortune, ditch his phone in the morning?
He “insisted his slow-burn, phone-free mornings improve his energy levels and decision-making abilities all day long,” Inc. reported.
“Less online mornings lead to smarter, healthier days, and new research strongly suggests more of us should steal Bezos’s one-hour rule,” the outlet continued.
Family and marriage therapist Maris Loeffler explained why in a recent blog post.
“The negative effects of screen time are insidious because you can’t see what’s happening in your brain as you’re staring at the screen. If you scrolled on your phone in bed for an hour just one morning, the negative impacts would be minimal. But if it becomes a habit, day after day, month after month, this behavior can take a toll,” she wrote.
According to a study by the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, “increased use of screens among adults may harm learning, memory, and mental health, as well as the potential to increase the risk of early neurodegeneration. The study shows that in adults aged 18 – 25, excessive screen time causes thinning of the cerebral cortex, the brain’s outermost layer responsible for processing memory and cognitive functions, such as decision-making and problem-solving.”
Loeffler explained that positive brain activity — not doomscrolling first thing in the morning — will feed and rejuvenate the brain.
“Passive screen time is like eating sugar but for your brain. It ‘tastes’ good, and you want it now, but you’re not actually feeding yourself. You’re not giving your brain any nutrition,” she said. “Instead, replace screen time with an intentional healthy habit that feeds your brain in a healthy way. Lifestyle medicine activities, like exercise, good sleep, social connection, and stress management, function like ‘nutrition’ for your brain and mental health.”
Movieguide® previously reported on some tips to limit your screen time:
Setting screen time limits for yourself and your kids just got a whole lot easier.
A video posted to Familyguide’s YouTube walks viewers through a step-by-step process on how to use the “screen time” feature on their iPhones.
Once in settings, “you can look at the 10th item on your screen is called screen time,” Familyguide shared. “This is an important tool, and it’s not just a thing you can use for for kids; it’s something you can also use for yourself to make sure that you are living a life that is in the moment with your kids, spending time focusing on God, focusing on family, focusing on all the things you need to and not being consumed by technology.”
Once in the screen time settings, users can see what their daily average of screen time is.
There is also another feature on there called “downtime.”
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