Nowhere is our independence in more jeopardy than in our digital lives. Various surveys find people more willing to give up food, sleep, and sex than to lose their internet connections. One recent study found that half of us would rather have a broken bone than a broken phone.
- 61% admit to being addicted to the internet and their devices.
- 50% of people prefer to communicate digitally than in person.
- High social media use can trigger an increase in loneliness & jealousy
We forget, all too easily, that when our phone is off, there’s a whole world out there to be explored.
Your Challenge for this week is to choose one evening and turn off your phone (and other screens) from 5:00 p.m. until you wake up the following morning.
Cue sweaty palms and nausea. We get it. We’re going to do it too. If it helps, print off this handy Permission Slip.
Some ideas of things to do while off our phones:
Read this awesomeness by John Stilgoe, or a little (or a lot) of this by Cheryl Strayed, and then get yourself outside. Walk, savor, breathe.
Make a bucket list of things to do in the next 5 years. Put them on post-it notes. Stick them up in your closet.
Select a random recipe, shop for the ingredients, and cook. Feed others if possible.
Print off Arthur Aron’s 36 questions. Sit with someone you love – or want to love – and just do them. You’ll thank us later.
Spend quality time re-sparking intimacy with your sig-o, or have a deep talk with a friend about why modern love is so damn hard.
Grab some friends and one of these board games.
Bring a fine journal and the world’s best $1.33 pen to a library or coffee house, and free-write about what makes you most grateful.
Take a hot bath or shower, brew a big mug of tea, crack open a great book, and get primed for an early and awesome night’s sleep.
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When you’re done, please take a minute and share your experiences in our Facebook group, or post on your social networks using the hashtag #scareyoursoul
In courage,