Thoughts of the Week: April 19, 2024

Plan a digital detox.

Our lives are filled with technology, and it’s a “blessing and a curse.” You can use it to make a fortune, run a company, do your work, or have lightning fast communication or collaboration.…not to mention the connections and wealth of knowledge that is now readily available at our fingertips.

We can do anything, almost anywhere - yet, the tools we use can consume our lives if we’re not intentional.

When our professional lives are overrun with screens, we paradoxically often require time away from those same screens to do our best work. To be creative. Connect the dots. Even be more present for those we care about.

The constant presence of phones or our laptops can also create lack of thinking time - to mentally work through, strategize, and consider your work. So vow to give yourself some space to increase your performance. If you can make the time, look at your day and…:

• Schedule out a break in your workday where you don’t look at screens or your phone, and take a walk.

• Examine tasks and figure out if they all need to be done on a computer where you’ll be pulled in a thousand directions, or if good old-fashioned paper and pen are all you need to more effectively focus in with one or two.

Give your eyes and brain a break, clear your mind, and focus. Think.

If you don’t need to be using a screen, don’t always run to it. This weekend, take some time to step away: pick up that book you’ve been wanting to read, spend some quality time with loved ones, or simply step outside and immerse yourself in nature. Build a healthy relationship with technology: use it as a tool, but don’t let it use you.

Your mind, body, and the quality of your work will thank you.

---

1. Everything is just information.

2. Everyone starts somewhere. These are the inspirational roots of Gautam Adani, a billionaire industrialist in India.

3. Taking a step away to refresh can do wonders.

---