Two weeks ago I decided to try a Tech Sabbath – a day disconnected from technology. Here’s the first post. It felt like I could catch a deep breath for the first time in years. Loved it so much that I tried it again last weekend.
With the first week’s excitement wearing off, we were ready to find out what this Tech Sabbath was all about.
The bad
I went to the gym without headphones for the first time in years. It was weird. I realized that I’m kind of boring.
Then the cracks got bigger. Paying more attention to how I talked to people, I realized that I can be kind of an asshole. Sometimes aloof, sometimes mean. It was pretty eye opening.
The good
For the second week in a row, I started noticing things. Details in life otherwise lost in the shuffle. Things like the sound of the pen scratching on paper. Sounds of a city not muffled by headphones. The feeling of paper, the smell of a book. Technology isn’t just outsourcing jobs, it’s outsourcing the tiny moments that color life.
Soon we’ll need to open museums to experience the forgotten senses.
There was hope. Without endless gadget distractions, I felt free to focus. Less choices gave me more freedom, to invest my time in deep work and nuance.
A deadline on plans. No dilly dallying. My Saturday plans with other people had to be set in stone the day before. Because I was unreachable, it simplified communication. And with that deadline, I wrote and read and listened to music, and savored the things I enjoy about my gadgets before turning them off.
Disconnected, I’m starting to think that we process too much data every day. We might be running out of bandwidth. Life is starting to pixelate.
It’s a strange dichotomy, because I love tech. I think that it will solve most of the world’s problems. But without care, it can remove the life right out of living. The tech Sabbath has been my happy reboot. Another one coming tomorrow.
Also published on Medium.
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