Audrey tapped out early last night. She was in bed by 4pm like a Victorian child recovering from typhoid. So it was just me and the kids out for a walk, which was nice. I even squeezed in my Duolingo session before bed (Japanese: Day 5, still can’t remember how to say “where is the bathroom?” but I can ask someone if they are American, so that’s… helpful?).
Sleep, though? Trash. I tossed. I turned. Then, of course, the second my alarm went off, my brain activated snooze-mode and suddenly discovered the ability to sleep like a corpse. Love that for me.
So there I was this Sunday morning, bleary-eyed at 4:50am, holding my phone like it was the last lifeboat on the Titanic. Did I jump into my workout? Pimsleur? Eventually, yes. But not before giving away the first chunk of my morning to scrolling slack-jawed into the void. Again.
I worked out. I studied. But I didn’t do any of the household chores I’d planned on—dishes, laundry, fixing the blinds. Instead, I took a masterclass in sedentary procrastination and let my phone babysit my ambition. A real fat-ass lifestyle highlight reel.
📱 Lesson of the Day: Your Phone Is Making You Mediocre
Let me guess. You also picked up your phone this morning with the noble intention of “checking one thing real quick” and somehow woke up two hours later inside a Reddit thread arguing whether cavemen had names. Welcome to the club. The initiation fee is your soul and a crumbling attention span.
Here’s the hard truth: your phone isn’t just a distraction. It’s an attention vampire. A digital parasite. A warm little rectangle of dopamine that is quite literally rewiring your brain. And no, I’m not being dramatic. Go read Stolen Focus or How to Break Up With Your Phone. These aren’t just self-help fluff pieces. They’re exposés on how we’re all getting played.
Our brains were not designed to context-switch 47 times an hour. Every ping, scroll, and TikTok is a zap to your cognitive circuits. You’re not distracted because you lack willpower. You’re distracted because the game is rigged. Every second you spend on your phone is a second you’re not building the life you said you wanted.
🛠️ The Rewire Plan: How To Stop Being Your Phone’s Sidekick
- Morning Phone Jail. Your phone doesn’t get parole until after your workout or morning task is done. Keep it on airplane mode or leave it charging in another room.
- Delete One Dopamine Sink. Pick the app you waste the most time on. You don’t need to delete your whole life. Just one. Start there. (Mine was TikTok. The algorithm knew me too well. It hurt.)
- The 20-Minute Walk Test. Go for a walk. Alone. No podcasts. No music. Just… think. If your brain itches like it needs a hit, congrats, you’re addicted. Keep walking.
- Set Phone Bedtimes. Your phone goes to bed before you do. Plug it in somewhere out of reach. Don’t cuddle it like it pays rent.
- Read a Real Damn Book. Not on Kindle. Not on your phone. One made of dead trees. Fiction or nonfiction. Doesn’t matter. Use your brain for something deeper than memes.
- Join the No Scrolling Challenge. If you want accountability and a structured way to detox your digital habits, join the 100-Day No Social Media Scrolling Challenge. It’s like rehab for your thumbs.
🔁 Final Thoughts: Reclaiming the Driver’s Seat
Tomorrow is measuring day. The moment of truth. I’ll either be reporting actual progress—or the kind of embarrassing regression that makes you wish scales had a sarcasm setting. But honestly? I think it’s going to lean positive.
Besides the ongoing battles with the snooze button (which might be genetically wired into me at this point), I’ve stuck to the plan. I’ve shown up, done the work, stayed off the dopamine drip more days than not. That consistency? That’s something worth showing up for.
And hey, even if the scale doesn’t move much, at least I’m not failing as fast as my retirement account. Thanks to those fresh Trump tariffs, my 401k is now a 201k. So there’s that little ray of economic sunshine.
Today, I’m not letting my phone live life for me. I’m taking back the wheel, even if I have to pry it from my own greasy, touchscreen-primed fingers. Because the truth is: I’m not a fat ass because I lack discipline. I’m a fat ass because I let myself get hijacked.
Rewiring in progress.
Let’s try again.
💬 Your Turn: Don’t Just Lurk, Rewire With Me
Now it’s your turn. What’s your toxic scroll habit? Got any tips for kicking your digital dependency in the teeth? Share your battle plan in the comments—I actually read them (unless I’m being hijacked by Instagram reels again).
Want to go deeper? Join the Rewired With Drew community on Discord. We’ve got people detoxing from distraction, rewiring their habits, and calling each other out (lovingly) when they fall off. Click here to join and let’s rewire together.
Because this whole thing? It works better when we’re not doing it alone.
Drew Karriker is a self-proclaimed professional tinkerer, self-experimentation enthusiast, and lifelong learner with an inability to sit still. A former nuclear engineer turned DevOps architect, he’s built a career (and a life) out of breaking things, fixing them, and then making them better.
Despite wrestling with ADHD, anxiety, and an unrelenting need to optimize everything, he transformed his career and life in just a few years—not because he’s special, but because he figured out how to turn obsession into execution. Now, he’s doing it again—publicly—one 100-day challenge at a time.
His past projects? Some were successes. Some flopped spectacularly. Each one left him a little wiser (and probably a little more caffeinated). Now, he’s on a mission to document his transformation—mind, body, career, and everything in between—so that others might pick up a thing or two along the way. Or at the very least, be entertained by the chaos.
Follow along at RewiredWithDrew.com and get inspired, get motivated, or just grab some popcorn and enjoy the ride.