Hey Reader, Suraj here –
A little over 30 days ago, I committed to the LID challenge. The goal was simple: to lower my information intake for a month and see what happens.
The rules for the challenge were the following:
- Go on a one-month media fast, allowing only limited TV and/or reading before bed, with music allowed anytime.
- Avoid using my phone 30 minutes before and after sleep.
- Only consume information that serves an immediate and important purpose.
- Quit activities that no longer serve my goals, even if I’ve already started them.
So, how did it go?
Insightful, I’d say.
The results are not as dramatic as I expected, but significant nonetheless.
Since I had already been focusing on being mindful about my digital technology usage, I didn’t struggle too much. The hardest parts for me were two:
- Not using my phone before and after bed.
- Not consuming information that I “might” use.
So far, I had been defaulting to using my smartphone in bed until I fell asleep. I had been doing so, primarily, to either respond to emails or read articles that I had saved. In a similar manner, I had been consuming information that I might use even though I knew I wouldn’t immediately need it.
Learning is a good thing, I’m not suggesting otherwise. What is not very good, however, is using learning as an escape tool, which I had been doing. During the challenge, I realized that without this escape tool, I had a lot of downtime. Down time, as in I had time to do nothing, which would get me bored, and then I’d ultimately get back to working on the important and urgent things of the present.
Prior to the challenge, if I were working on something (could be a project or a certain skill), if it got difficult, which it often did, I’d just resort to doing something else. That was mostly because I had an option. I could do those things. Something’s hard? I’d just open a new tab, type “inbox” in my search bar, and start doing emails. Or I’d open one of my saved articles/blog posts, and start reading. That’d be much more pleasurable.
Simply recognizing this behavior pattern helped me become more mindful of it, and more importantly, helped me cut down on it. This itself helped reduce my smartphone usage in bed. To take it a little further, I began implementing one of my wake-up-early tips. I began keeping my phone further away from my bed. I only had to do it for a few days before I just wouldn’t use it that much.
There was one other thing I learned: Without the option to resort to an alternate venture, I’d do more of the things that were actually useful and important in the present. This meant that completing the items on my to-do list took far less time than it used to in the past.
I’ve also been spending more time with my notebook, taking a lot more notes and storing fleeting ideas. When I’m noting them down in a notebook, there are no notifications or applications to distract me. The lovely part about this is that, often, those rough drafts turn into interesting ideas that I can build on. This implies that you can look forward to (hopefully) more thought-provoking ideas in this newsletter.
What’s next?
I think I’m going to sustain this challenge for some more time, or at least a big chunk of it. Moving forward, I will allow myself to spend more time reading books, particularly real physical books. The reason for this change is my goal of becoming a well-read person. I will talk more about this in the coming weeks.
I very often speak of using friction to our advantage. Books neither have a notification nor easy access to a more stimulating app. That is a friction that you and I can leverage.
Anywho, this has been my experience, and that’s my plan moving forward.
Some of you reached out when I first started the challenge. I loved learning about your own struggles with digital technology. I’m looking forward to learn your experience of the challenge. Even if you didn’t reach out, if you’ve been trying this challenge for yourself, I’d love to know how it went or how it’s going so far. As always, the best way to reach me is to simply respond to this email.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a great next week.
I will see you next Friday/Saturday, depending on your timezone.
Take care, my friend.
Warmly,
Suraj
