What you do is more important than what you don’t do

Spending time offline

iconic duo

Hi there,

I went camping this weekend and spent no more than 10-minutes online each day; mostly responding to texts. If you want to spend less time online, spend more time doing offline activities.

Five things to share:

1. Quitting technology is the easiest part. What do you do with the time and attention that remains? Cultivate high quality leisure: What you do is more important than what you don’t do.

2. I’m currently reading the Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a collection of twelve short stories that explore the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United States, and the collision of two cultures and the deeply human struggle to reconcile them. It is amazing what reading about people, things, and experiences different from us can teach us. Most importantly, we are all different in very similar ways.

3. Can a digital detox reset your thinking? - A conversation with Cal Newport on social media. I was inspired to write today’s post after hearing Newport’s advice, what you do is more important than what you don’t do.

4. A quote I want to share with you:

   There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.
   — Linda Hogan

   Pay attention.

5. The surprisingly difficult art of doing less

   Culture depends on us constantly wanting more, buying more and doing more. To be satisfied is almost a vice, because it means you’re content with what you have and therefore you’re not already chasing after the next thing. Many of us have lost the ability to sit with a book or have a simple conversation. We’re constantly distracted and want to check our smartphones. But by practicing doing less, we can take to learn to live within a culture that is constantly pulling us in a million different directions. 

That’s all for this week!

Thank you for reading, and please share with anyone you think may benefit.

If you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time, you can subscribe below.

Until next time,

Mehret