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Hi there,
This week, I invite you to share with me your thoughts, favourite articles, videos, quotes, and everything in-between related to unplugging and spending time offline.
If you’re lucky, you might get a chance to win a NDU I Unplug For Mug! (I’ll be mailing it to an address you provide)
That’s all for this week!
Thank you for reading, and please share this newsletter with anyone you think may benefit.
time spent offline is now a monthly analog publication you can get delivered straight to your mailbox with 20 ideas every month.
Until next time,
Mehret
The best advice I read about spending less time with your phone is to not keep it close. What I'm doing at home is what Cal Newport called "The Phone Foyer Method" (https://www.calnewport.com/blog/2019/10/21/a-piece-of-advice-i-wish-id-included-in-my-book/): When I'm at home, I put my phone on the sideboard next to the apartment door.
So whenever I think need to look something up or switch to a different playlist I need to get up, walk there, do whatever it is need doing and then leave the phone where it is. For me this prevents mindless surfing and only using the phone when I really need to.
Also: not having any social media on the phone helps a lot...
As a, what economists call, 'digital native', I had a hard time disconnecting from meaningless content/dopamine hits until very recently. I find opportunity, create and share, and build businesses online, so it was easy to convince myself any usage was 'okay'. Like.. it's research 👀
I have commented on your blog a couple of times as I've been waking up to the damage compulsive negative digital usage was having on me. I wanted to thank you for your insight and the compassion in your posts!
After facing the problem and acknowledging I needed to take a hard look at myself and re-evaluate I'm feeling positive, I even attended a social event at a church and made a friend :) It was easy to spend 8 hours online and 2 hours engaging with thought-provoking content, useful information, or working on my business or passion projects to convince myself I was 'moving in the right direction'.
Realising I needed to set goals, I wrote thousands of words to myself and came up with 8 strong goals and how I'm going to achieve them. I've already been practicing good habits the past few days and realising I have to decide in every moment that I'm going to be the person I want to be. The delayed gratification feels good when I flip from 8 hours working towards my goals to 2 relaxed hours online.
Plus after 8 hours of positive work, whether it's inner or spiritual work, business work, or working on something I'm passionate about, the other 2 hours I spend engaging with people whose content I love (hi), engaging with the communities I want to be part of, and watching videos on youtube I actually want to watch (aka not chosen out of boredom and a desire to run away) are sooo rewarding!
Reading your writing is part of why I see value in sharing my own experiences and unique perspective.
On that note, I will tidy my laptop tomorrow as my desktop is so cursed I usually just keep several tabs open to cover it up :-)