How does it feel to be 'under' exposed...?
🌞 📲 A 7 day digital detox in the sun.
“We’ve become chemically and emotionally addicted to these short-lived highs. That’s why I’ve decided to put my foot down by putting my phone down, so that I might pick up a joy-inducing presence instead.”
― Wendy Speake
Every time I do an i-Phone detox I sharpen up my relationship with my subconscious
My phone becomes an object; like a hairbrush or a corkscrew. It’s useful if I need it to be but I don’t need it.
There’s no life line, there’s no connection, there’s no temptation or distraction because everything I need is right in front of me.
I’m 100% in the 3D. I’m in this wild and precious life we’re living.
The best thing?
Nobody notices you are gone… it takes a good three weeks (usually) before even one person notices you’ve disappeared from the internet. Longer if you schedule posts…
You get to feel unplugged, under exposed. You get to bring all the energy back to centre.
Dramatic? I don’t know? If you’ve done a digital detox you probably know to be true this too?
Why detox?
This is a personal reflection not rooted in science. You could google it but it’s a bit hairy on the blue light facts and that’s not my style.
This is about exploring and questioning how I felt on a 7 day detox in The Canary Islands last month…
(I set the parameters so I used my phone as a camera while we were out and about. I also checked in twice a day with my mum on whatsapp). If you want to go full detox this type of thing looks cool and also like a beautiful prison cell? 🤷🏽♀️
At the departure gate at Newcastle airport, I replied to one last Substack question while the kids were playing catch with a rogue babybel cheese and then deleted the app. I didn’t have any other way of checking any portals. No laptop, ipad no portals into my online life.
All my online responsibilities disappeared.
I sighed - a sigh of relief. The deadline was here - I was done!
Going straight onto the plane connected me to times I flew when phones didn’t exist at all… Transportation into a portal where anything is possible…
Overall on the break from my devices…
I trusted my business would work while I was away.
I felt calmer and happier and more patient with the kids.
I didn’t miss being online or feel the need to search for anything.
I felt tired and slept extraordinarily well and deeply.
I saw things, a lot of things.
I read 5 books
I noticed how strained others looked walking and texting, sunbathing and scrolling… endlessly searching for entertainment, a connect, to feel something? Quietly observing myself in them. No judgement!
After a few days ideas started dropping into my head, my psyche, my body, I wanted to write… new ideas were pouring in and none of it felt urgent…
Protecting your peace…
So the big thing I know is that we have to set our phones up to work for us… This is especially true if we also work online, we’re on call or we serve an audience/ clients across the globe.
I think it’s pretty personal don’t you? Perhaps you’ve already figured out a way that works for you? I know I used my phone a lot for comfort during the night feeds - I wrote my first book in those slots but I also scrolled a tonne of things I have no memory of now…
A while ago, I saw an advert for a lockable box you put your phone inside of to stop you reaching for it. I wondered how many are selling?
Here’s how I have a gentler relationship with my phone and being ‘on’
Over the course of a year - I delete Instagram for long periods of time; months sometimes.
…because I fall down scroll holes there I can’t get out of and I know it’s not the best or even nicest use of my time. I tend to check in on the desktop just for dms and ideally I’d turn these off.
I delete the Substack app on Sundays and usually one day through the week too. I don’t use other social media.
I leave my phone plugged in on charge when I move around doing chores and out in the garden.
I don’t have sounds or any notifications turned on. I have to open the text and whatsapp apps to see if there are messages. I reply to all of my messages as soon as I see them because I’ve come to my phone in a conscious pocket of time…
On holiday I do a full portals detox; Christmas, Summer hols, when we go abroad so probably total 4 solid weeks a year…
I always buy a phone without a tonne of memory so I can only keep two social apps max - it’s a hack and it saves money lol
It works! I think I’m pretty balanced with it most of the time… I loved this comment from a subscriber over at
“I find that one of the simplest, clearest ways to know whether we’re caught in an unhelpful pattern is to ask whether what we’re consuming or doing is connecting or disconnecting.
Is it connecting to true self, our deepest values, and our sense of integrity? Is it connecting to our Higher Power, the Universe, and Nature?
Is it connecting to others in the sense of true intimacy not dependant on a shared drug of choice? I find that if I’m really honest, the answer is clear. -
So where do you stand on your relationship with your phone?
Do you want to detox from it, do you have boundaries around how you use it for work, for fun, for connection?
I’m so curious.
As I was writing this I flashed back to using a Blackberry for work circa 2008 and punching emails into it on the long walk home… I liked it and I really liked how easy it was to put down…
I think Dave and I are going to try these flip phones and recalibrate what how we use our tech for connection and work…
My pal
has written on a similar topic today, why not head over and give her piece a read? We chatted about this one over voice notes and I told her it actually hurt my heart when our son said once; ‘you and dad are always on your phones’ - it literally made me want to put mine in the bin.In a world where we’re wired for connection, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments on whether you think putting down your phone brings more peace, wellness and creativity to your world?
Press the ♥️ heart and share if you’ve enjoyed this article, it helps more people find me on Substack and connect to my words and network of like minded creatives.
Claire
✨
PS - here at
, we are working on bringing attention and GROWING one of our online spaces this month - come chat over on this post and tell us what you’re bringing attention to? My GROW co-working replay is open to all subscribers for one month only.🤓 📈 Task check in - I’m up 30 YouTube subscribers and I’ve ticked off two more of my tasks. Hit subscribe on my channel and help me get to 1k subscribers? We’re running the challenge until 3rd June and then we’re on with the next one! 🤓 Self Seeding your business brings so much ease and joy - come see? ✅ 🌱
I love this so much Claire. One of my biggest fears is that my kids will grow up thinking that what’s in the phone is more important than them. 😢
We do so much to pull one another up on it and are pretty good (also on the deleting apps train Choo choo 🚊) BUT we could always do more and I love the idea of a total detox. I haven’t done it in years. Bring it! ❤️ ✨ 🧘♀️
I'll be posting about this soon too, I realised there was a demand when I was asked recently to co-host a workshop on digital wellbeing for those of us who work online a lot. I've done two years of trials of digital detoxes and learnt a lot about what they're doing to our brains, and honestly I think it's something we always have to be aware of, even when we think we've cracked the right balance for us, it's so easy to get sucked back in! They're designed to keep us hooked after all...