Disconnect to Reconnect – A Weekly Digital Detox

Image: a rocky oasis at Ob Kahn Nation Park near Chiang Mai, Thailand

New Positive Habit: Take a day off every week and completely disconnect, go airplane mode, and spend time in nature.

I used to spend days straight wandering in the forest, and maaaaan you can really get deep into your own mind. Right now I’m working so much that taking a few days off takes some planning, but taking 1 day off is doable! As an ambitious entrepreneur your todo list is infinite, it can be easy to get stuck in a routine of working 7 days a week, but it’s important to schedule disconnect time to get out of the grind, open your mind, and free your body from the shackles of the internet.

Airplane Mode is Awesome

It’s 2017, we’re constantly getting slammed by micro interruptions! Even if you have your volume off and your phone face down, you still know you’re connected to the matrix, and you’re going to pick up that phone and have a bunch of notifications, people and things wanting your attention. It’s a mind drain – everything we do takes energy. And every decision we make drains from our daily willpower reserve. Draining that energy slows you down earlier in the day, and wears at your sharpness and ability to think about more important things. Airplane mode solves this. Side note: try turning on airplane mode for a few hours at a time any day while you’re working on something creative. You get in the zone!

Nature and Hiking

I propose forming a habit to spend at least 1 day in nature per week, disconnecting from the enslavement of the internet, and reconnecting with the Earth. I call it #naturesunday. Hiking is my favorite, or just hanging out in the forest and chiiiiiillin. Solo or with friends, whatever you’re feeling! The ultimate is camping all weekend, that’s a real winning idea that gets you coming back to life refreshed and standing standing tall and sharp.

This Sunday I went with 2 friends (Brian and Luke) to a national park here in Thailand called Ob Kahn – it’s about 40 minutes outside of Chiang Mai. The 40 minute motorbike drive was a great dose of freedom and disconnect by itself, but the real beauty is arriving, parking, and taking those first steps into a land without computers, traffic, or obligations.

When hiking, you just naturally start to activate your creative thoughts and ability to live presently. Our topics ranged from physics and the universe, business ideas, books, movies, psychedellic experiences, traveling stories, relationships, inspirational people and how their mind works, and also a lot about just how the brain works and the power behind it. Many of these conversations happened while chilling out in a crystal clear pool of water at the mouth of the creek (probably more like a river in the wet season). The weather was hot! About 36 degrees celsius, and the water was the perfect temperature of cool that was both refreshing and incubating to hang out in for a couple hours and let the conversation turn deep. Literally, we were just hanging out in the water talking about life for hours, and it was awesome!

Why You Need to Disconnect

If you work on the computer, or you’re grinding it out long hours anywhere, getting out in nature and disconnecting from electronics is essential, here’s why:

• You give your mind time to wander and think about the big picture. Break out of the day to day grind and see the picture (and how to break out of the day to day grind)
• If you’re working 24/7, you might not be exercising much. Get out and hike, swim, climb your way around a piece of Earth for an excellent and fun full body workout
• Problem solving: got a problem you’ve been working on but can’t quite come to good solution? Take a hike! Nature has a magical way of helping you collect your thoughts to figure out solutions
• Hang with friends. You find yourself in some great conversations and the sense of having nowhere specific to go allows you to loosen up and enter deeper levels of discussion
• Live life! We’re not meant to be staring at screens all day every day, it’s not natural. Sometimes you forget and need a good nature day to snap out of it and realize what’s really real

I like Sunday’s, but you can pick any day. I want to start a movement called #naturesunday, where we all just naturally spend time disconnected from technology for a day and reconnect with our true existence. And even better, if more companies didn’t open for business on Sundays, so more people can enjoy a common day off.

Enjoy the Earth! And join me on the quest to make #naturesunday mainstream!

Location: Ob Kahn National Park in Northern Thailand