Let’s face it - if I could figure out a way to knit and scroll my phone at the same time I probably would have done it by now.

The fact of the matter is that it is near on impossible to scroll and knit a sock at the same time. Unless you are somehow a contortionist who can scroll with their toes. And as my morning yoga sessions with attest, I am definitely not a bendy person.

I have been on a bit of a mission to redefine my relationship with my phone recently. I use it for lots of useful and helpful things - banking, yoga, reading on my Kindle app, texting my mum. But those social media apps are so persuasive, so tempting that before you know it you find yourself 30 minutes later, knee deep in cat videos with a cold cup of coffee at your side.

Helpfully though, knitting has been my saviour.

I’ve been reading a book called The Phone Fix by Dr Faye Begeti and she talks about ‘surfing the urge’.

When you have the urge to open an app - say Instagram - ‘just to check’, she suggests you stop and pause.

You aren’t telling yourself no to opening up the app. You are just saying ‘not yet’, It’s a bit like telling a toddler that they can have the sweets - just not yet.

Then she suggests you find something else to do for 5 minutes, whether that be to read a book, wash some dishes, make a hot drink. You get the idea. The aim is to just distract your brain long enough to make you wonder whether you really want to check out that app or not.

It will come as no surprise that for me, knitting has proved invaluable in this kind of distraction activity. And 90% of the time, if I tell myself I will knit for 5 minutes I end up knitting for far longer than that.

It’s a win win. I get more knitting time and my brain benefits from fewer doom scrolling moments.