We are always experiencing constant stimulation between our phones, computers, radios, earbuds, etc. We don’t take a second to get in touch ourselves due to this innate hatred we all have of boredom because it makes us feel uncomfortable. We have all gotten so used to being constantly surrounded by noise and activity that we use it to mask the uncomfortable process of getting to really know ourselves. Drowning out your thoughts with external stimuli may seem like a good idea initially because it helps alleviate the pain of boredom and self-reflection. Most of the time, when we take a few minutes to let out brains wander it may break through with uncomfortable thoughts that we rather not deal with and instead block out. This is why I believe we are dealing with so much depression and anxiety today amongst youth because all people do is intake stimuli without giving their brain the proper time to process information and reflect on it. This is why using time to embrace “boredom” to reflect and listen to your brain will help you reach success and grow as a person.
Overriding our brains
Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and all the rest of social media have taken over most of everyone’s time. Next time you are in a busy place where people are standing around or walking somewhere, take a look around and count the number of people on their phones. From my experiences, this will be almost everyone. Scroll and click culture have overloaded our brains to the point that where if we are not stimulated by something for even a minute, we begin to feel intense boredom and anxiety. I genuinely think that this process has led to depression amongst the youth like we have never seen before, yet no one talks about it. Without giving the brain time to process stimuli and reflect on information, we will never truly absorb anything, and will constantly be exhausting our brain’s resources to process the stimuli. Modern excess stimuli culture has made our society addicted to stress. People actively and constantly search for the next thing to be angry about on social media, as this process allows them to deflect their insecurities and project them on everything else all of the time, so they never have to face their own deficiencies and deal with the uncomfortable process of growth. No one thinks about this or talks about it, and it is because we don’t give our brains time to come up with our own thoughts. People need to go through uncomfortable self-dialogue in order to deal with their issues and come up with solutions that actually solve their problems. They need to have serious talks about their thoughts with people they care about and who care about them rather than all the constant small talk most conversations consistent of. You never really grow unless you go through something uncomfortable that alters your perspective. This can and usually does come from taking a few minutes a day to just be bored to give your brain time to think, process information, and come up with thoughts and ideas unique to you.
Why i stopped bringing my phone to the gym
I have been working out since I was 13 years old, and I always brought my phone and earbuds to the gym. I thought I needed constant music, podcasts, and videos in my ear to motivate me and keep the workout from getting “boring”. I would regularly spend upwards of an hour and a half to two hours a day in the gym doing what I thought was training hard. While I may have been lifting a lot of weights, a lot of my time was unknowingly spent changing songs, answering texts, taking videos, and checking social media. Within the last month after listening to a podcast from BiggerPockets with Cal Newport on digital minimalism, I decided to take an hour or so to just sit and reflect on his ideas. The conclusion I came to was that my phone served no purpose at the gym besides distraction and that it is not needed to workout. Ever since then for about a month now, I have had some of the best workouts I have had in a long time. I am ultra-focused and give my brain the break it needs from excess external stimuli. I have actually left the gym more energized after my workouts than I ever have before. The quiet has also allowed me to get in better touch with my body and mind and better understand what works and what doesn’t for my own preferences. The best part however is that I am now in and out of the gym in an hour or less twice as sore as I used to be when I would go for 2 hours or more! This is incredible to me because it made me realize that time in the gym is not what matters most, it’s how you use the time you spend there and what you are actually getting done. If I spent two hours in the gym now with no music or phone, I would overwork myself to a point I could get hurt proving that a lot of that time was wasted when I brought my phone with me. This is another reason I think that separating yourself from technology for certain periods of time helps tremendously when trying to better get in touch with yourself.
Cure your phone addiction
Whether you want to admit it or not, we are all massively addicted to our phones. We bring them everywhere and are on them constantly whenever we get a free second! Realizing this is the first step towards curing this addiction. When you try to put into practice what I have been preaching throughout this post, you may feel pain similar to if you were addicted to a drug and weren’t getting enough of it. Our minds have been so programmed to be on the phone that we get uncomfortable if we are not on it the second we get an opportunity to be. While I would highly recommend you don’t bring your phone to the gym, if this is too much to start off with there are other great options. I would suggest going somewhere or do something where phone access is not possible such as a meditation practice, yoga class, or even a massage. These mindful activities will pull you away from your phone and get you into the grove of utilizing what we often refer to as “boredom”, as a tool to reflect on and process information. You can gradually work up into more difficult practices such as only allowing yourself access to your phone certain times of the day, not bringing it to the gym, etc. The sky is the limit once you gain control over your technology use instead of it having control over you!
A free mind is a productive one
Ever since I began to implement the practices of digital minimalism, my brain has been able to produce thoughts and ideas I never would have given it the chance to had I not taken time to steer clear of excess external stimuli. For instance, I am now beginning to write an e-book all about financial freedom, and the reflection process has helped me come up with a skeleton for it that I am almost satisfied with. This is just one of the many examples a free mind has given me in only a short period of time. I truly believe that if you embrace digital minimalism, you are already doing more than 99% of other people to ensure your success. The sky is the limit if you just put in the effort and go through the pain of discomfort no one else is willing to go through!