There is a school app for everything you need now! And that is honestly really cool… but I don’t want them on my phone. Why? Because it is MY phone. Which means I’m going to use my phone for what I want–scrolling Instagram and playing Solitaire (yes, I’m an 80-year-old woman trapped in a 31-year-old’s body–it’s fine). I’m not going to use it to check school apps!
Having school apps, such as Class Dojo, email, or your grade book, seems really convenient at first. And IT IS–so much so that it doesn’t seem like a big deal to open up one of those apps at 9:00 at night when you suddenly remember you were supposed to message little Johnny’s mom.
Let’s think about two scenarios:
- At 9:00 pm, you remember you were supposed to message Johnny’s mom. So you open your Class Dojo app to message her, but when you do, you see two messages from other parents with complaints. You read through them and start running through scenarios in your head of how you can fix the issue. Then you toss and turn all night, with anxiety over the issues.
- At 9:00 pm, you remember you were supposed to message Johnny’s mom. You open your to-do list app on your phone and add “message Johnny’s mom” so you’ll remember to do it at school. Then you go to bed and sleep peacefully all night.
Which of these scenarios sounds better? The first scenario completely robs you of your personal time (and sleep!) and the second allows you to keep your boundaries. I promise Johnny’s mom can wait.
What’s the Solution?
The best solution is to just delete any apps that you have related to school. Seriously. Do they really need to be on your phone?
If you absolutely can’t fathom deleting the apps, you HAVE to turn notifications off. Not just pop up notifications, but even the little bubble on your email that tells you how many unread emails you have. If you see these notifications, you’re going to be tempted to deal with them as they come in.
You can even take it one step further and get the apps off of your main screen. If you have an iPhone, you can create folders for apps. Put all of your school apps into one folder and put the folder on another page on your screen. This keeps the apps out of sight (and therefore out of mind!), but they are there if you absolutely need them.
Working at school 40-50 hours per week is enough. You do not need notifications on your phone all evening stealing the little time you have to relax! It is so important to set boundaries, and your personal devices are the easiest places to start.
Have you taken any other steps to set boundaries? Let me know in the comments!
Feeling like there are no boundaries because you don’t have enough time in the day? Check out these posts:
