today i did good.

01.11 A.M.

It’s been a while since I have actually gone on a twenty-four hour break from my own devices.

This was a break from 9.30 P.M. to 11.59 P.M of the next day. So, a little more than 24 hours.

And I am writing this after 12 A.M.

I used to do this often in 2022, and I loved doing it every single time.

Because I cherished every moment I used my devices when I came back from the break.

The break isn’t huge enough to break any kind of flow, neither is it small enough to make no dents.

I can feel myself changed already, and I think more people should do it.

Here’s an overview on what I did today, being completely screenfree:

Had a good night’s sleep
Showered, shampooed and freshened completely
Finished listening to a podcast
Deep cleansed my bathroom and toilet
Watched 2 matches (it’s football season, what did you expect?)
Read 1.5 chapters from The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck
Reconnected with my family for a few hours
Watched a horror film called Dybbuk
Tidied up my room and tables
Folded and sorted all my clothes and shoes
Wrote for a few hours on end
Led the whole day on calm mode

That last point is especially profound. That’s the thing I felt the most, and am cherishing the most as of the moment.

The only screen-involving things would be watching the matches (on TV, not on PC or mobile) and helping out my mom a little with something she wasn’t able to do on her phone.

Sure, now a lot of people might say, “But that’s just the usual weekend for most?”

For me, this was amazing. I have never felt any better. And I haven’t felt calmer. And it was a weekday for me.

Seems like there indeed is a benefit to staying “screen-free”.

Keep in mind, I did not “avoid” my phone. I literally turned it off.

No phone calls, no notifications, no distractions. That’s the whole spirit to it.

I might have raised some eyebrows from people who were trying to contact me during this period, but I can quickly come back to them any time soon.

I’m even writing this blogpost with the internet turned off, and no music in the background.

I can feel the satisfaction dropping in. Me clackering my keys while laying these words. The sound of the few cars on the roadside. The wind paying a visit every few minutes, varying in intensity.

It’s truly a nirvana. It’s truly a blessing.

I also watched Curaçao getting absolutely OBLITERATED by Germany, and essentially making a repeat of the Brazil-Germany situation back from 2014.

And am now watching NED-JPN as I write this. Super excited to see two teams with completely different strengths.

Vil be fine in a few days.

The reason why I even decided to go through this detox is to push the rest period that I was going through.

I went to the gym yesterday after a very long time (during the day of the detox) and I had good spirits this time.

Before this, every time I went to the gym in the morning, I felt horrible.

This time would be different, I said to myself. This time would surely be different.

My mom kinda made me eat breakfast, although I didn’t want to since I usually don’t eat breakfast, but I did, treating this as pre-workout, because why not.

Worked out, did fewer reps than usual due to some time crunch, met up with some close friends, and off I went to home.

I had lunch outside, but it was literally evening by the time I was provided that, and I think that’s what essentially led to me feeling like absolute dogshit by the time it was night.

I wasn’t feeling the effects until after lunch, because after that big meal, I felt like my senses dulling.

Time slowing, everything heightened, everything seeming threatening to me.

I know it’s overkill of me describing all in this manner, but this is EXACTLY how I felt.

I shrugged it off and was off to meet some of my closest buddies (a few whom I met earlier at the gym) at a local dhaba that I have nearby, and we had amazing food and of course, chatted a lot. Had fun.

After we bid our goodbyes, some came along over at my place and we played a long, straining, gruesome and bloody game of Monopoly. (reality intended)

We were supposed to play Syndicate, which is a cool game made my chokka.shop, but instead opted for Monopoly because we were low-key addicted to playing the former for the past few weeks.

That Monopoly game turned out to be one of the most intense, and super multi-paradigm shifting games I have played in a while — so much that it made me feel light but my head hurt bad enough.

I ask my friends to leave later on and they politely do. What happened afterwards remains to be dissected.

I turned off my phone with an announcement over on WhatsApp with the new status messages: “DND: 1440 minutes”

As you can see, it lasted more than just 1440 minutes. I’m not sure what I might be doing tomorrow, I’ll plan tomorrow.

But bottom line is this: this detox came as the result of a timeline gone wrong, coupled with me not having my daily dose of caffeine and an intense feeling of all your prized possessions being snatched away from you (Monopoly properties) — which made me feel so bad that I was not able to breathe and function properly.

I was unable to have coherent thoughts due to my head splitting apart, and I am feeling a slight of it right now.

My phone is still turned off as of the moment. It’s almost three in the morning. I should sleep.

goes to sleep, wakes up again

Morning. Or afternoon, by the time I have started writing this.

I’ve turned on my phone and didn’t get as much notifications as expect, but regardless, it’s much more peaceful than usual.

I can already feel myself functioning at a much calmer pace.

How I felt after I turned off my phone was liberating, to say the least.

But I felt very bad, thanks to that huge gap of no food and a pretty bad pre-workout. Poor judgement from my side too.