OOO Means OOO

When’s the last time you took a vacation? Not a “hey-I’m-on-vacation-but-I’m-still-online-if-you-need-me” type trip. 

A real one.

One of the hardest things for me is getting offline. I’m pretty much either on my computer or my phone, checking emails or Slacks, reading the news, or watching the most unhinged memes on Instagram (apologies to my friends I share them with). 

As you read this, I will be OOO, full stop. Don’t contact me. Please. Even if there’s a fire.

I’ll be up in Acadia National Park with my wife and a handful of friends, hiking, biking, swimming, sitting around the campfire, etc. And I’m currently reading Stephen King’s It which takes place in Maine so it’ll be extra spooky.

We’re all online too much. Constantly moving from one screen at work to another screen at home. From the age of 22, when most people start full-time work, until retirement at 66, the average American will rack up more than 109,000 hours of screen time. (Yes, I actually did the math.) 

That’s about twelve and a half years of life spent staring at a screen during our working years. 

Now, I’m not saying to throw away all your electronics. How could I live without Age of Empires 3? 

All I’m saying is, take a break. Get outside. Smell something other than New Jersey.

Burnout just kills creativity. I remember in my first job out of college, I was editing six days a week, clocking almost 70 hours. It drained every ounce of my creativity. I was just going through the motions. 

Even though that job had unlimited PTO it usually felt frowned upon when you requested off, even for holidays. 

I stopped writing. It was hard for me to read. I was just a zombie.

Years later, as I began to respect my work/life balance, I felt my creativity slowly trickle back in. 

That part of your brain reserved for creative thought opened back up. Writing and reading were welcomed back into my life, on a mostly daily basis.

When outdoors, this is heightened. Sitting in my hammock with my journal, the ideas pour out. From where, I don’t know, but from inside there. 

Your body loosens. You can breathe. The wind cuts through the trees as the jays and grackles laugh at no one in particular above you. Time moves slower. What felt important in the thick of the city doesn't have the same hold here. 

Here, you can just be. 

That’s the value of time off. And that’s why I’m saying to not contact me until Sunday. But I guess you probably should if there is a fire. 

Challenge for you all: go on a daily walk without your phone. Look around your neighborhood. Illegally pick a flower and bring it home. Just get off your screen, take some time off, and touch some damn grass. 

Your brain will thank you.

Today’s listening recommendation: