Being Bored for 30 Days Changed My Life

I just completed a 30 day experiment to consciously reduce how often I was using my phone. The goal was to slow down media input in general, but let’s be honest — this was about me and my screen time.

I called it Slow 30, because I was inspired by challenges like Whole 30 and 75 Hard, but instead of trying to get abs or clear up my IBS, this challenge was about my mental health and slowing down how often I’m reaching for my phone.

I’ve written about how Tech Rest has positively affected my relationship with technology, because over time it’s taught me how to integrate healthy technology boundaries. But, I wanted to take it one step further and see what a consistent application of tech rest over the course of 30 days would feel like.

Technology promises connection and often delivers isolation, and I’d certainly begun to feel the effects of that. So the underlying question of the experiment was really, “What happens to my IRL world when I’m intentionally a bit more disconnected from my phone?”

Here are 5 key takeaways from the Slow 30 experiment:

🗑 The Mental Trash Will Take Itself Out

The primary reason I think everyone should take regular time away from social media is because the steady scroll drains our creative energy — one of the most precious resources we have.

And I’m not talking about creative energy exclusively as the thing that inspires you to write or paint — sure, that’s part of it, but creative energy is also the thing that helps us sort through complicated feelings, it’s what we use to dream better for ourselves, and the thing that helps us connect more openly and easily with the community where we live.

Connection to our individual creative life force is hard to access in the a world of infinite content, because there’s always something to stream, that takes us away from our feelings. However, since this challenge had clear boundaries for when I was away from social media, I felt a serious reduction in how much I felt stressed, self-critical, or badly about myself.

A lot of that mental trash simply began to fade away on its own, because I was spending less time in the places where I’m likely to encounter it. On the other side of this challenge, I feel more self-assured and confident of my own thoughts, opinions, and perspectives, and I also feel more clear about how I want to use my creative energy.

🗓 Schedules are More Effective Than Screen Time Limits

When I initially started this challenge, I thought that tracking my screen time would be a great way to see my progress; and if I were just starting out, those stats would have absolutely been mind blowing and probably quite helpful. But I’ve been tracking my screen times for almost 3 years already, so I had a good sense of what those usually are and it didn’t end up providing that much insight for me personally.

However, the more interesting thing that happened was that giving myself a schedule actually freed me in a lot of ways I didn’t expect. Because, when you’re a content creator, your job is Internet. Ken’s job is Beach, but yours is Internet… so you never really clock out. Theres always more content to make! There’s always a scroll hole that could contain the inspiration for your next viral piece content! It’s like living with a slot machine attached to your hand.

So I shifted my attention from screen times to clock-out times: Deleting social media apps off my phone at 6 pm every night and all day Saturday and Sunday (the same way I would clock out of my retail or desk jobs). This was profound for me as a content creator, because you never really get clear “off time” unless you intentionally make it for yourself.

This ended up feeling far more liberating and encouraging than witnessing myself press “15 more minutes” at least 3 times in a row when I reached my screen time limits. The clear down time associated with being “clocked out” made it so much easier to disconnect from my phone and choose activities like going on a walk, meditating, or reading. This is a practice that I intend to maintain even though the challenge is over. I loved this part of the challenge, and it gives me a lot of mental freedom as a content creator.

👀 You Won’t Miss Anything

One of the big reasons we all use to defend staying online (even though we feel awful) is that we think we need to be plugged in all the time so we don’t miss anything — you kno, FOMO.

And to be fair, while I was Slow 30-ing, a lot happened! Joe Biden stepped back, Kamala stepped up, the Olympics started… and that’s just what comes to mind right now!

To be clear: Everything I needed to know about found its way to me. I didn’t miss anything. Instead I discovered JOMO (the Joy of Missing Out).

🌀 This Will Help Your ADHD (and Depression and Anxiety)

I can only speak for my N of 1 trial (me), but I also want to be honest — this helped my ADHD, depression and anxiety, a lot.

My armchair theory is that Slow 30 put me in a state of much lower stimulation, so my normal distraction, agitation, and/or squirrelyness (to use the scientific term) naturally regulated quickly after beginning this experiment. This was also why I instituted the phone-free walk and daily deep breath! Doing things quietly, slowly, and peacefully felt so good.

I noticed that I felt less negatively affected by my executive dysfunction, and it seemed easier for me to focus, initiate, and execute tasks. Without having something constantly playing in my ears or distracting myself with social media, I realized how much energy I use simply managing context switching.

Slow 30 massively lowered the amount of stimulation / input/ noise I usually encounter, and put me in a more calm and centered energy. This seemed to remove a lot of the power that ADHD, depression, and anxiety typically have over me. Hell yeah— talk about a life hack.

☁️ Boredom is Cool

Doing at least 10 minutes of “sit and stare time” each morning was so good for my brain. People have a lot of questions about Sit and Stare Time, but it’s exactly what it sounds like — sitting and staring into the distance (preferably with your phone in a different room).

It sounds boring, and that’s because it is! That’s the whole point. We so rarely have the “opportunity” to be bored, but these 30 days taught me so much about the gift of boredom.

Those 10 minutes each morning taught me to ease into things, to let thoughts and emotions rise and shift organically (it only takes about 90 seconds btw), and to enjoy the emptiness and spaciousness of being a little bored. When you’re bored, you can hear the birds, smell the flowers, and time feels a lot longer.

There were also many moments of waiting (for friends, for coffee, for something to load) where instead of pulling out my phone, I just sat and took in the moment. Those “bored” moments made me feel powerful, because I realized how unconsciously I would reach the phone and disconnect from the moment. That has become the norm, and I prefer to be a rebel. A rebel who is basking in the present moment.

One last and very unexpected gift I’m taking away from this experience is how much more available I was to my immediate community. I’m a huge advocate for befriending your neighbors, especially in a big city. Slow 30 meant I was walking around my community with the phone tucked away and the earbuds no where in sight, and it was such a gift. It led to new intergeneration friendships, new opportunities and inspirations, and a whole lot of cute dogs in the neighborhood who I know now (don’t ask me what their owners’ names are though).

I am concluding this experiment feeling so much more empowered around how I use my phone, connected to my IRL community, and massively inspired by what I discovered in my slowness and boredom.

Would you try Slow 30? What about this process is the most appealing to you? Let me know in the comments if you’d like to give it a try or implement any of these ideas!