My 48-hour Technology Fast

Technology. Simultaneously a life-line and the bane of my existence.

I’ve had a love-hate relationship with tech since I was old enough to use it.

It’s the way I connect to my family and friends. It’s my life line for business and how I connect with my clients. It’s how I research, how I relax… it’s basically part of me on a daily basis. When I’m not on my phone, I’m on my computer. And when I’m not using either of those, peep me on the couch in front of Netflix or MAX.

Now, it’s not exactly not lost on me that you’re reading about my technology fast while you’re sitting on a piece of technology. I understand it has become an inseparable piece of our day-to-day as successful humans, at least in this part of the world.

I want to challenge that thought, though, and we’ll come back to it.

What is a Technology Fast?

If it has a screen… I didn’t have it in my life for 48 hours. No cell phone. No computer. No TV. No microwave. No clock.

For two days, I had literally no idea what time it was. I didn’t know anything about the latest news. Couldn’t tell you what so-and-so was doing with whatchamacallit. I didn’t do the wordle. I didn’t know what the weather was going to be.

I think the easiest way for me to explain to you how profound this weekend was for me is to piece it out as follows:

It’s Habitual.

It’s funny and also really sad how many times I instinctively just reached over and tapped the table next to me where I would usually be tapping my phone to look at the time or check notifications. There was no phone. There were no notifications.

I would feel ghost vibrations - even though my phone is never on vibrate - or hear the ding of a notification - even though my sounds are off 90% of the time.

Thankfully, these only lasted the first few hours.

It’s Uncomfortable.

Probably what I was least prepared for.

How funny is it that as humans, we’ve created the ultimate diversion to our own selves?

It’s the easiest way to feel “connected” to others, but we aren’t really connected, are we?

It’s the easiest way to fill time, but the moments will pass by anyway and we can be more productive with it, can’t we?

It’s really really easy to get up (and/or) give up on something when you’re hungry, tired, or vulnerable. Conversely, sticking to stuff is easy if you avoid being hungry, tired, etc… and when you have only your own devices (haha), if your “normal” changes, you get to see just how distracted you’ve become.

I Felt Less.

Less… Anxiety. Fomo. The urge to check it. Desire to hold it.

I actually dreaded taking my cell phone out of the box at the end of the trip. I felt more like “Ugh… what am I going to be coming back to? Whose problems do I have to solve, what popped up when I was away?”

I Also Felt More.

Present. Grounded. Focused. In tune.

I’ll admit that it was awkward for me to HAVE to face feelings. I had no distraction to counter it. I felt hunger, thirst, discomfort, exhaustion. I couldn’t procrastinate any of it. I had to deal with those feelings in real time.

It’s funny to me now, looking back on this time and saying that I “had” to face those feelings but honestly - we spend so much time in our day to day lives in front of a screen and it’s so easy to forget or distract ourselves from feeling… anything. If we distract ourselves from HUNGER and THIRST … what else aren’t we in tune with?

And now I forget where my phone is. All day today, it’s been lost from one minute to the next. Honestly no idea where it is now. And I don’t need to know. I’m not even frustrated about it like I would have been before. It’s ok to not respond right away. It’s ok to take time for yourself. It’s ok to not let it run your life.

I also felt more need to connect with nature and with myself. I felt the need to be comforted, supported, and loved. I found myself getting lost in nature, looking for meaning in areas I never would have noticed otherwise. It was easier for me to be grateful - easier for me to find things in life that made me experience a deeper sense of gratitude.

My Main Take Aways?

1) In a world full of distractions, remember it’s ok (important) to disconnect in order to reconnect.

2) It’s ok to not be available all the time. It’s ok to make and enforce boundaries around technology that help you remain in this newfound happy place without it. I don’t only think it’s healthy, I think it’s necessary. The pervasive nature of technology is exactly the reason I wanted to fast in the first place.

3) If this has been on your mind for any length of time - maybe for years, maybe just for the few moments you’ve taken to read this blog, if it’s something you’re considering - make the plan and go. It can be a staycation in your own house where you stay clear of technology, or you can go to a getaway house and get yourself out of your normal routine and into a grounding practice. It’s 48 hours of your life, and every single second is worth it.

If you had told me even three days ago that I would have been totally fine phone-less and technology-less for 48 hours, I would have laughed at the thought and then gotten immediately anxious that I was going to miss something important. My brain would immediately run to the worst-case-scenario thinking and I would fabricate excuses why I couldn’t or shouldn’t do it.

I know because I’ve been in that situation before.

This time was different. I knew I needed to ground myself. I had an intuitive feeling that this weekend I needed to get away from technology and focus inward. I needed to face myself and spend time getting back to me.

I am taking some of these learnings with me. Keeping the journal I kept during this weekend on hand to remind me of my “why".” I’ll be keeping distance to technology several hours during my day. Remain present and grounded during walks, for example. Turning off the TV and reading before bed. Getting up to journal before checking my phone or rushing to social media. And most importantly, I’ll remember to check in with myself not just daily, but multiple times throughout the day, to see where my needs are and aren’t being met. What I am distracting myself from. What I am missing that’s right in front of me.