The first ten minutes after you wake up belong to you. Don’t hand them to your inbox.

Whatever you do first sets the tone the rest of the morning has to work against. Opening a screen before you are properly awake means the first thing your mind processes is somebody else’s demand, somebody else’s news, somebody else’s good day. You chose none of it. You simply handed over the one part of the day that arrives unclaimed.

Leave the phone face down for ten minutes. Drink something, stand by a window, put your feet on the floor and stay there. It is a small border, and it is easier to hold than most of the ones you will try to defend later.