The Sunday Habit That Restored My Mind and Creativity

Feeling burned out, overstimulated, or like your brain is stuck on a loop? The solution might be simpler than you think—just put down the screen.

Several months ago, I began a habit that has radically transformed the way I think about how I spend my time—I instituted a “screen-free” day every week, on Sunday, from morning until 5PM.

The idea was to have a day where I could give myself a rest from media—the news, my email, TV shows, social media, and all the other things that come with a screen. Instead, I wanted a day that was more about everything else in my life—everything from cleaning my apartment to mindfully listening to music, going on walks, and reading.

In the beginning, because I knew the temptation was too high (and my habits were against me), I used the Screen Time feature on my devices to severely limit my app usage on Sundays—everything was marked as unavailable until 5PM, except for a few key apps like Messages and phone calls. Otherwise, I would often find myself opening my iPhone and tapping on an app mindlessly or automatically.

Several months into this screen-free Sunday habit, and I am loving it. By the late afternoon or early evening, I feel more balanced and restored from the week. Doing tasks that are naturally slower (reading, cleaning, walking) actually helps rest your mind and gives it time to organize information. I also find this time to be the most creative of my week—I often come up with some of my best ideas on Sunday, and I’ll scribble them down in a notebook so I don’t forget.

Finally, I go to sleep that night with a sense of calm that I don’t regularly find throughout the week.

I started thinking about how to bring this habit into my regular workday—like many of you, I’m sure, my job and life revolve around being connected. I need to be in front of a screen for most of my day. What I don’t need to do, however, is: check my email every 30 seconds. Check my company’s Instagram follower count every 15 seconds. Check the news every 1 minute. Endlessly tab between windows. Visit blogs to see if they’ve written anything since I last visited, minutes ago. Check on my product analytics again. Ad nauseam.

If I can find a way to bring the mindfulness of my Sundays into my regular days—and honestly catch myself when I’m going on a loop that I don’t need to be on—then I’ll likely find that my day ends with at least more calm and balance than before. (Versus today, where I often feel like I’m totally used up, burned out, and my head hurts.) We were just not designed to have our prefrontal cortexes (the most evolved part of our brain) stimulated and on max power the entire day—that’s why things like meditation and going for walks are often prescribed and so restorative. It’s a time to let off the gas and let your brain rest a bit, which pays off huge dividends.

I honestly can’t recommend enough setting aside at least a few hours once per week that you don’t use a screen—and ideally finding 10–20 minutes per day that you don’t use one, either. It’s really uncomfortable at first, but it’s so worth it.

Want more tips on creating calm and clarity in a noisy world? Tune into the Super Awesome You podcast for practical insights that help you recharge, refocus, and live with intention. Listen now!