DAY 1: Filling the Silence + Rules for Engagement

Have we forgotten how to fill the quiet moments?

Day 1 is in the books. For the most part, it was relatively painless. My MP 01 woke me up at 6:20 with an alarm, and from there I was off and running. My first “no-phone” moment happened after I dropped the kids off at school and realized I couldn’t listen to my podcasts on the way to work. See you in 2 weeks, Ira Glass. Instead of filling the drive to work with noise, I drove in silence. Not bad, actually. It made me start to wonder–How much of my day is spent avoiding or filling the silence?

Instead of being, I do. Instead of listening, I talk. Instead of thinking, I consume.

Overall, I think day one was much more engaging for me. I chose conversations over twitter. I had a great phone call with an old friend. I was more productive at work. Plus, shorter bathroom breaks. Either way, this is going to be an interesting experiment.  I have included my rules for engagement below.

My Digital Detox Guidelines:

1. No iPhone for 14 days.
2. All calls to my iPhone will be forwarded to my dumbphone.
3. Computer is allowed during work hours for work related email (gotta pay the bills).
4. No Carbs, No Sugar, No Alcohol, Just grass fed… wait, wrong list.
5. No computer/ipad/blogging/screen-time until the kids are in bed, and even then limited to 1 hr/day.
6. Engage reality.

please comment below with any questions/suggestions you may have. I’d love this to be a conversation more than a monologue.