Digital Boundaries In An Always-On World (S4) S48:E7

Welcome back to another empowering episode of the Inspirations for Your Life Show—the daily motivational show that helps you become truly unstoppable. I’m John C. Morley, Serial Entrepreneur, Engineer, Marketing Specialist, Video Producer, Podcast Host, Coach, Graduate Student, and of course, a passionate lifelong learner. Today’s master topic is “Unstoppable You — The Blueprint for Modern Growth and Resilience,” and in this episode, “Digital Boundaries In An Always-On World,” you’ll discover how to take back control of your time, your focus, and your peace of mind so you can lead your life—not let your devices lead you.

1️⃣ Turn off non-essential notifications daily. Your attention is your most valuable currency, and every unnecessary ping spends it for you. By turning off non-essential notifications each day, you create fewer interruptions, more deep focus, and a calmer mind that can actually finish what it starts.

2️⃣ Set “no phone” zones at home. Certain spaces should feel like a sanctuary, not a server room. Designating phone-free areas—like the bedroom, the dining table, or your reading chair—helps you connect more deeply with yourself and others while signaling your brain that these spaces are for rest and presence, not scrolling.

3️⃣ Charge your phone outside the bedroom. When your phone sleeps next to you, your rest is never truly offline. By charging your phone in another room, you reduce the temptation to doomscroll at night or first thing in the morning, allowing your brain to reset and your day to start on your terms, not your notifications’.

4️⃣ Use do-not-disturb during focus work. You can’t do your best thinking when your brain is constantly being hijacked. Turning on do-not-disturb during deep work sessions carves out distraction-free blocks of time, letting you finish tasks faster, think clearer, and produce higher-quality results.

5️⃣ Delete one useless app each week. Digital clutter drains mental energy just like physical clutter does. When you delete one non-essential app every week, you slowly clean up your digital environment, making your device a tool for growth instead of a trap for your attention.

6️⃣ Keep meals 100% screen-free. Meals are one of the best times to reconnect—with yourself, your body, and the people around you. By making eating a screen-free ritual, you enjoy your food more, digest better, and give your eyes and brain a much-needed break from constant input.

7️⃣ Schedule social media check-in windows. Social media is designed to pull you in endlessly if you let it. Setting specific times of day to check your feeds turns your usage from reflexive to intentional, helping you stay informed and entertained without losing hours to the scroll.

8️⃣ Disable read receipts and last-seen. Constantly broadcasting your status creates pressure to be “always available.” Turning off read receipts and last-seen removes that invisible social timer, giving you space to respond when you’re ready instead of when your phone says you should.

9️⃣ Unfollow accounts that drain your energy. Your feed shapes your mood more than you realize. If an account makes you feel anxious, inferior, or angry more often than inspired or informed, unfollowing it is an act of self-respect that instantly improves your digital environment.

🔟 Set time limits for your top 3 apps. Some apps are necessary—but also notorious time sinks. By putting daily time limits on your three most-used apps, you keep their benefits while preventing them from consuming your entire day, turning your phone from a black hole into a manageable tool.

1️⃣1️⃣ Keep one day a week as a “low-tech” day. Your mind needs recovery just like your body does. Choosing one day a week to drastically reduce screen time—no endless scrolling, minimal apps—resets your nervous system, boosts creativity, and reminds you how good it feels to be fully present.

1️⃣2️⃣ Turn off autoplay on all platforms. Autoplay is engineered to keep you stuck. Disabling it gives you the power to decide when one video ends and another begins, helping you break binge cycles and reclaim pockets of time that would have quietly slipped away.

1️⃣3️⃣ Use grayscale mode to curb doomscrolling. Colorful interfaces are designed to trigger your brain’s reward system. Switching your phone to grayscale makes everything a bit less “exciting,” which naturally reduces compulsive checking and helps you use your device more purposefully.

1️⃣4️⃣ Mute group chats after work hours. Group chats can feel like noisy rooms that never close. Muting them after work hours protects your downtime, reduces anxiety about “keeping up,” and sends a clear signal that your off-time is just as important as your on-time.

1️⃣5️⃣ Say no to “instant reply” expectations. You don’t owe anyone a real-time response unless you’ve truly agreed to it. Giving yourself permission to respond thoughtfully instead of ins

Episode Transcript

(00:24):
Well, hello there, everyone.
It is John C.
Morley here, serial entrepreneur.
Great to be with you on Inspirations for
Your Life.
This is the last part of the Master
Topic because today's Friday and that means we're
wrapping up with episode number seven.
But before we get into that, let me
tell you what the Master Topic is.
The Master Topic for this entire week, if

(00:45):
you have missed it, let me share what
it was because we're wrapping it up today.
And that is Unstoppable You, the Blueprint for
Modern Growth and Resilience.
And the granular topic for tonight is Digital
Boundaries in an Always-On World, series four,
show 48, episode number seven.

(01:06):
So really, really great to be with you
guys here on Inspirations for Your Life.
If this is your first time here, I
want to say welcome and thank you for
joining me.
If you're coming back, I want to say
welcome back and thank you so much for
coming back and joining me.
Really do appreciate that.
Again, do check out BelieveMeAchieved.com for more
of my amazing, inspiring creations.

(01:27):
If you guys are thirsty or you're hungry,
feel free to go grab something.
I have my RO water here.
It's so nice and icy cold and refreshing
and it's delicious.
All right.
So without any further ado, let's go ahead
and officially kick this show off.
Are you ready?
I know I am.
All right, guys.
So again, a very, very big welcome back

(01:48):
to, yes, another empowering episode of the popular
Inspirations for Your Life show, the daily motivational
show that helps you become truly unstoppable.
I'm John C.
Morley, serial entrepreneur, engineer, marketing specialist, video producer,

(02:12):
podcast host, coach, graduate student, and, of course,
a passionate lifelong learner.
And today's master topic is Unstoppable You, the
Blueprint for Modern Growth.
That's the master topic and the resilience.
And in this episode, it's all about digital

(02:33):
boundaries in an always-on world.
You'll discover how to take back control of
your time, your focus, and, of course, your
peace of mind so you can lead your
life, not let your devices lead you.
And I think that's a problem for a
lot of people.
They don't realize that they're being led by

(02:53):
their devices and that they don't have the
freedom that they thought they did.
So that's important to understand.
So really, really important.
Number one, turn off non-essential notifications.
So I'm on the show and my phone
is in vibro, so it won't disturb me.

(03:16):
Your attention is your most valuable currency, okay?
And every unnecessary ping spends it for you.
By turning off non-essential notifications each day,
you create fewer interruptions, more deep focus, and,
of course, a calmer mindset that can actually

(03:37):
finish what it starts.
I think that's an important thing for a
lot of people.
They don't realize what that means and how
we have to embrace that whole concept.
I think that's a very, very important thing.
And I know it's important to understand what's

(04:01):
going on and what people are doing, but
this is something a lot of people miss.
Number two, set no phone zones at home.
Certain spaces should feel like a sanctuary, not
a server room.
Designating phone-free areas like the bedroom, the

(04:24):
dining table, or your reading chair helps you
connect more deeply with yourself and others while
signaling your brain that these spaces are for
rest and presence, not scrolling.
I typically don't use my phone in bedrooms

(04:46):
at all, you know, if the phone's ringing.
I mean, there might be an exception if
I'm talking to somebody, but I typically don't
go to bed and have the phone there,
okay?
So that's important to understand.
Number three, charge your phone outside the bedroom.
I do.

(05:06):
When your phone sleeps next to you, your
rest is never truly offline.
By charging your phone in another room, you
reduce the temptation to doom scroll at night
or first thing in the morning, allowing your
brain to reset and your day to start

(05:28):
on your terms, not your notifications.
I know this happens to me when I
go away sometimes on vacation, I'll have the
phone in the same room, right?
And I'll do that because, you know, the
hotel's small and typically the room where you're
in is the same room.
So, you know, that's kind of how that
works.
But, you know, it's really important to just

(05:49):
take note of these things.
I think they're really important things.
Number four, guys, use do not disturb during
focus work.
You can't do your best thinking when your
brain is constantly being hijacked.
Turning on do not disturb during deep work

(06:10):
sessions carves out distraction-free blocks of time,
letting you finish tasks faster and think clearer
and produce higher quality results.
Now, the thing is you can even enable
do not disturb to come on by setting
a focus session and enabling that.

(06:30):
That's a really, really, really cool thing to
understand.
And I hope that you will definitely, you
know, do that because when you do that,
it signals to your brain that, hey, you
know what, this is time for me, right?
Number five, delete the one useless app each

(06:53):
week that you don't use.
We all have apps on our phone that
we don't use.
So, let's just get rid of the digital
clutter.
If we don't use it, get rid of
it.
Digital clutter drains mental energy just like physical
clutter does.
When you delete one non-essential app every
week, I know that's not easy, you slowly

(07:13):
clean up your digital environment, making your device
a tool for growth instead of a trap
for your attention.
All right.
Number six, guys, keep meals 100% screen
free.
Meals are one of the best times to

(07:34):
reconnect with yourself, your body, and the people
around you.
By making eating a screen free ritual, you
enjoy your food, more digestive time, better and
give your eyes and brain a much needed
break from constant input.

(07:55):
And, you know, it's great to have input,
but I think it's important that we learn
how to turn the input off and how
we just kind of chill.
I think that's a really important thing.
So, number seven, guys, number seven is a
very important thing.
And that is about schedule.
So, schedule social media check-in windows.

(08:19):
Social media is designed to pull you in
endlessly if you let it.
Setting specific times of day to check your
feeds turns your usage from reflexive to intentional,
helping you stay informed and entertained without losing

(08:39):
hours to the doom scroll, right?
And I know we laugh about that, but
it's so easy to get stuck in that
doom scroll, right?
You don't want to do that.
Number eight, disable read receipts and last seen.
You know, sometimes you need that.

(09:00):
I get it, right?
But the thing is, if you always have
it on, you're always like, oh my gosh,
did he read it?
Did they read it?
And it's okay to do that, but, you
know, don't be like so glued to it
that you have to do that.
I think that's a very important thing that
a lot of people, you know, just don't
understand.
So, constantly broadcasting your status creates pressure to

(09:24):
be always available.
Turning off read receipts and last seen removes
that invisible social timer, giving you space to
respond when you're ready instead of when your
phone says you should.
Number nine, unfollow accounts that drain your energy.

(09:49):
Your feed shapes your mood more than you
realize.
If an account makes you feel, well, anxious,
inferior, or even angry, more often than inspired
or informed, unfollowing it is an act of
self-respect that you owe to yourself that
instantly improves your digital environment.

(10:13):
Yes.
So, definitely do that.
Number 10, guys, gotta have some more water.
This water is really good.
Nice and cold, very refreshing.
Filtered seven times, RO, really delicious.
Number 10, set time limits for your top
three apps.
Some apps are necessary, but also notorious time

(10:35):
sinks.
By putting daily time limits on your three
most used apps, you keep their benefits while
preventing them from consuming your entire day.
Turning your phone from a black hole into
a manageable tool.
So, sometimes you can't do that, like on
your email program, right, because you get email

(10:56):
all the time.
So, it's kind of hard to do that.
I get it, but there's some people that
like, it's like every other heartbeat, oh my
gosh, gotta check something, gotta do something.
And, you know, there's some times when I'll
do that, but then there's other times like
I'll put the phone away.
I'm like, okay, I had enough for today.
And are you able to be that disciplined
or are you constantly drunk?

(11:17):
Oh my gosh, like, what is this person
going to say?
I don't care what the person says.
Like, I really don't care what they say.
I think that's an important thing to understand
and hopefully to respect.
All right, number 11 guys, keep one day
a week as a low-tech day.

(11:37):
Your mind needs recovery, just like your body
does too.
Choosing one day a week to drastically reduce
screen time, no endless scrolling now, minimal apps,
resets your nervous system, boosts your creativity, and
reminds you how good it feels to be

(11:59):
fully present.
Number 12, turn off autoplay on all platforms.
Autoplay is engineered to keep you stuck.
Disabling it gives you the power to decide
when one video ends and another begins, helping
you break binge cycles and reclaim pockets of

(12:22):
time that would have quietly slipped away.
Now the thing is, some platforms you can't
do this on, but there are a lot
that you can.
Number 13, use grayscale mode to curb doom
scrolling.
Colorful interfaces are designed to trigger your brain's

(12:42):
reward system.
Switching your phone to grayscale makes everything a
bit less exciting, which naturally reduces compulsivity, checking
and helps you use your device more purposefully.
Number 14 guys, mute group chats.

(13:06):
Oh my gosh, I'm in different chats and
I mute them like all the time because
they're just like crazy.
Some people have no respect and they send
you messages in the middle of the day.
It might be in the morning.
So mute group chats after work.
That's important.
There's certain ones I mute all the time
because I find that these are chats for

(13:29):
things I'm volunteering for, but they get abusive.
So I might turn them on when it's
like a week when I know we need
them for something we're working on, but then
I'll shut them right down if it's not
a project we're working on for that volunteer
project.
Group chats can feel like noisy rooms that
never close.

(13:51):
Muting them after work hours protects your downtime,
reduces anxiety about, yes, quote unquote, keeping up
and sends a clear signal that your off
time is just as important as your on
time.
People do this a lot when they just

(14:12):
don't understand that 12 o'clock, there's certain
respect times.
You just don't bother people all hours of
the night.
I think that's a big one.
Number 15, say no to instant replay.
I think that's a very wise one, a
very important one, right?
Expectations.

(14:33):
You don't owe anyone a real-time response
unless you've truly agreed to doing it.
Giving yourself permission to respond thoughtfully instead of
instantly lowers stress and raises the quality of
your communication and people will adjust to your

(14:55):
new rhythm.
Number 16, log out of accounts on shared
devices.
Staying logged into accounts on shared or public
devices is like leaving your front door open
24-7.
Logging out protects your privacy, your data, and

(15:16):
your identity, and reinforces the mindset that your
digital life deserves the same security as your
physical one.
Number 17, guys, turn off location sharing, except
when needed.
I find this is a big privacy issue

(15:39):
and nobody should really know where you are.
There's no purpose for that, but let me
just tell you this.
If you're going to turn it on and
you want to help somebody find you or
something, that's fine, but make sure you go
enable it once.
You can say ask every time.
That's fine, but don't enable it all the
time, right?
You can just say this once or just,
you know, only when I ask or something
like that so that, you know, just every

(16:00):
time you ask, so that's fine.
You can just turn it on for now
or you can just turn it off.
Whatever you want to do, either one of
those is fine, but that could be a
big problem.
Location sharing can be helpful in certain moments,
but leaving it on by default creates unnecessary
exposure.
Only enabling it when truly needed gives you

(16:22):
safety benefits without broadcasting your whereabouts 24-7
to apps and services that don't need to
know where you are some of their business.
Number 18, guys, create separate work and personal
profiles.
Blending work and personal life on the same

(16:44):
devices blurs your boundaries and burns out your
brain.
Separate profiles or at least separate apps and
notifications help you log off from one role
before stepping into another.
Increasing both performance and peace is important.

(17:07):
Number 19, block or filter toxic keywords.
You can't control everything online, but you can
filter a lot of it.
Blocking toxic keywords or muting stressful topics helps
keep your feeds from becoming emotional minefields, thus

(17:30):
creating a healthier space for your mind to
operate in every day.
I think that's important.
I think a lot of people forget the
fact that they're not glued to their devices,
so they shouldn't be glued to their devices,
but I know that some people are glued
to their devices.
It just happens.

(17:52):
If that's how it works for you, then
get a hold of it.
Get a hold of what's going on and
realize different things, and hopefully that will make
a very, very big difference in your life.
Are you guys ready for number 20?
I know you are.
Number 20 is don't take your phone into

(18:14):
the bathroom.
The bathroom has quietly become a scroll zone
for many people.
Leaving your phone out of it breaks a
sneaky habit loop, shortens wasted time, and sends
a powerful message to yourself.
Not every idle moment needs a screen.

(18:38):
Number 21, use a real alarm clock instead
of your phone.
Waking up shouldn't start with notifications.
A simple alarm clock lets you begin your
day without diving straight into email messages or
social media, giving you a chance to center

(19:01):
yourself before the world starts asking things of
you.
Now, I have one alarm set on my
alarm clock, and usually I'm up before that,
but then I have another alarm set on
my phone, and when it goes off, I
say, hey, turn off all alarms, whatever, and
I could do that without even getting up,
so that's very handy.
Number 22, turn off push email on weekends.

(19:25):
Unless you're truly on call, constant email pings
on your days off keeps your brain stuck
in work mode.
Turning off push email on weekends allows real
recovery, so when Monday comes, you're sharper, more
creative, and far more effective.

(19:49):
Number 23, guys, hide addictive apps in a
folder off your home screen.
What's out of sight is less likely to
be tapped.
Moving your most addictive apps into a folder
away from your main screen.

(20:10):
It adds just enough friction to disrupt autopilot,
encouraging you to pause and choose instead of
just reacting.
Number 24, guys, disable notifications during calls and
meetings.
Nothing shatters presence like a buzzing phone mid

(20:31):
-conversation.
Turning off notifications during calls and meetings not
only shows respect for others, but also allows
you to fully process information and respond more
thoughtfully.
That's a real powerhouse there.

(20:53):
Number 25, set a nightly digital sunset time.
Your brain needs time to wind down before
sleep.
Setting a specific time each night to shut
down screens helps your body produce better rest,
hormones, deepens your sleep, and makes the next

(21:13):
day feel a lot more energized.
Every night I do a meditation.
I do meditations before I go to sleep.
So typically, if I'm going to sleep at
10 or 11, my phone's already out half
hour before that, and I'm kind of winding
down with that.
Number 26, review app permissions monthly.

(21:34):
Apps quietly collect more access over time than
you remember granting.
A quick monthly permissions audit can reveal which
tools are overreaching and give you the chance
to tighten your data.
Your microphone, your camera, and your location access

(21:56):
is very key.
So one thing that's very important about the
phone is you actually have the orange and
you have the blue.
And so you have different things that can
show if the camera's being used, if the
GPS is being used, if your microphone's being
used.
You have different indicators that can show you
that.
And that's a very powerful thing.

(22:17):
And whenever those are on, you know that,
for example, blue, you know that your location
is being used.
The GPS, it's using your current location.
And somewhere to an app or somewhere it's
being shared.
Number 27, guys, use VPN on public Wi
-Fi by default.

(22:39):
Okay.
Public Wi-Fi without protection is like shouting
your passwords in a crowded room.
Using a VPN as your standard and open
on open network safeguards your browsing, your logins,
and your identity from being snatched.

(23:01):
In transit, that is.
Number 28, turn off mic and camera access
for unused apps.
I mentioned this before, but just a review.
Old or rarely used apps should not have
ongoing access to your microphone or camera.
Revoking these permissions reduces security risks and aligns

(23:24):
your tech behavior with one powerful principle.
Access should always match actual need.
So, if I go in, for example, to
my settings on my phone, and I go
into settings, and let's say I'll go into,
I'll go to one of my apps, and
I'll go to, I'll go over here to,

(23:46):
I'll go over here to AOL.
Okay.
And so, what I'm here says location.
So, when shared, ask next time or when
I share, so I don't do it all
the time.
Never.
When using the app or always.
So, ask next time or when I share.
So, I have to physically do it.
Do you want to show precise location or
do you just want to show something close
to where you are?

(24:06):
Do you want Face ID to be able
to, you know, open this app up?
Yes or no?
Do you want Apple Intelligence to Siri to
learn from this app what you do?
Show on home screen, suggest an app, suggest
your notifications.
Do you want notifications?
And I always turn this off.
Like, do you want the banners on?
Like, do you want the banners, notification center,

(24:28):
the lock screen?
I usually want all of that off.
I usually don't want any of that on.
Background app refresh, if you have unlimited data,
you don't have to worry about that.
Then you have cellular data.
And then, so this one didn't have anything
about, so let me go to something more
like, I'll go to something more like Zoom.
Okay.
Because it didn't have everything that I wanted

(24:48):
to share with you.
So, on Zoom, you have things like microphone,
camera.
Okay.
And so, microphone has one color.
Camera has another color.
Sharing your location has another color.
So, these are important things.
And again, you should do the monthly audit
as I was telling you.
Keep your tech off the table during conversations.

(25:14):
Laying your phone on the table, even face
down, sends the message that attention is split.
Keeping devices away during conversations deepens your connections
and reminds both you and others that the
moment you're in is more important than any

(25:38):
notification.
That's important.
Number 30, guys, ask yourself, is this serving
me?
Before you tap it, every tap is a
choice.
And asking this one simple question builds awareness.
Is this serving me?
Snaps you out of autopilot and back into

(26:01):
intention mode, helping you make digital decisions that
support your goals, your energy, and your long
-term growth.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to take the
opportunity here to thank those that joined me
for the very first time.
And for those of you that are coming
back, again, I want to say welcome back

(26:21):
and thank you.
Thank you for joining me tonight on Inspirations
for Your Life, the daily motivational show.
Remember, guys, creating digital boundaries isn't about rejecting
technology.
It's about using it in a way that
serves you for the greater good of yourself

(26:44):
and all concerned.
You guys can definitely connect with me 24
hours a day by visiting BelieveMeAchieve.com to
get my short-form content, my long-form
content, my reels and articles, and so much
more.
I hope that this week where we talked
about, you know, the master digital blueprint, because

(27:06):
that's really what we're talking about this week,
the unstoppable you, and you are unstoppable, okay?
Sometimes people put things in your way.
And these are tests.
But the unstoppable you and having the blueprint
for modern growth and resilience is the key
to success.
Some people will get jealous that you have
this, but do it anyway.

(27:27):
All right, guys.
Again, I'm John C.
Morley, serial entrepreneur.
It has been such a privilege and pleasure
to be with you guys.
Keep tuning in as we continue building on
unstoppable you.
That's who you are, a very powerful person,
one powerful habit at a time.
Let's elevate your life.
Let's give you some podcast wisdom.
Let's give you mindsets that matter.
And let's create inspirational stories to propel you

(27:50):
towards your dreams.
Have yourself a great one, ladies and gentlemen,
and I'll catch you real soon.
Be well, everyone.