I did a digital detox retreat. Here’s what happened.
Meah and husband Brandon just before entering their own 48-hour Digital Detox Retreat
You’ve probably heard of a digital detox retreat. It’s an intentional period of time where you ditch technology and the powerful grip it has on you to reclaim…well…your sanity. In our digital-driven world, most of us can’t put our phones down without feeling anxious, but we also feel anxious when we have them in our hands. Digital detox retreats are touted as a way to help reduce that anxiety and regain balance and perspective, but do they actually live up to the hype?
Well, I just got back from my own 48-hour digital detox retreat, and I’m so excited to share what happened.
Before the retreat, I communicated with core people that I would be offline for a few days. There was a babysitter at our house, and I made sure that our core people had our house phone number. I also brought a walkie talkie to communicate with the babysitter if she or anyone who called our house actually needed me.
In the first few hours after I turned off all my electronic devices, there were a few moments when I wanted to grab my phone and check on something. I experienced some moments of anxiety about not being super connected and reachable.
However, after the initial anxiety passed—and it did pass—what I experienced for the rest of the retreat was how I think we’re wired to live. I became less anxious overall. I felt present. My perspective on life enlarged and became more positive.
Also, I’d invited my husband to join me for a couples digital detox, so it was great to have non-pressured conversations, just hang out, and have the actual human bandwidth to connect. We were able to talk about our values and ways that we wanted to be intentional when we returned to “normal” life. The stress drained out of us more quickly than it does on a regular vacation.
One of the biggest things I noticed during my digital detox retreat was the increase in actual productive and creative thoughts and energy. I began to think about projects I wanted to engage in. I had a sense of real energy for those projects (none of them involving email or social media!). During a normal day, the ability to pick up our phone and “check something” actually saps our creative transitions. In some ways, I think our phones have created a distraction from the “pain” of transitions in our day.
But on my digital detox retreat, I discovered that this “pain” is not actually pain. It’s a space for internal thought and energy to bring to life the “what’s next” in our day. It’s the space that our minds and bodies use to assess our own energy and creativity and ability. It’s our decision-making space.
Yet, picking up our phone short-circuits that space, and instead, we go through our day as automatons being pushed around by our tech. Through our devices, we let people or daily pressures tell us what’s next. We’re frantic and lacking purpose. No wonder we, as a society, are anxious, depressed and unmotivated.
What’s more alarming is what I’ve noticed and experienced now that I’m back on my devices. I’m pulled to them when they’re on. Cal Newport in Digital Minimalism discusses our ancestral drives for social status and survival-based communication that date back to Paleolithic time. Back then, if I wasn’t paying attention when someone was trying to communicate with me, it could mean death. And now, I’m hardwired for that. We all are.
Yet the amount of communication and information coming at us is astronomical. It saps us of our creative and relational attention, leaving us anxious and fragmented. Thus, it takes some serious intentionality to figure out ways to use our technology in ways that enhance our lives while not costing us our lives.
I’m continuing to work on these concepts and tools myself in my everyday life. I am putting together a toolkit for guests to use in digital detox retreats here at my retreat house in West TN. My digital detox gave me the energy and awareness to manage my technology usage in my “normal” life. It reoriented how I think about and engage my entire life.
Limited time opportunity:
I’m offering FIVE founding beta testers (individual or couple) the chance to book a 48-hour Digital Detox Retreat at half price, now through September 11, 2024 (the last check-in date for the beta test). Reserve a 15-min scheduling call to plan your dates for a beta digital detox retreat today - CLICK HERE!
