Caught myself refreshing my brokerage account six times before breakfast. The portfolio balance hadn't changed since last night—obviously—but my fingers kept reaching for the app anyway. That anxious habit costs nothing in fees but everything in mental bandwidth.
The trigger was clear: I'd been reading too many market commentary threads instead of sticking to my quarterly review schedule. Someone on the forum posted about a tech stock "guaranteed to double" and my brain latched onto the fear of missing out. This is exactly the noise I eliminated two years ago.
So I made a small change this morning. Deleted the trading app from my phone's home screen. It's still there, buried three folders deep, accessible when I need it for my planned monthly rebalance. But the friction matters. I don't need instant access to information that doesn't require instant decisions.