When was the last time you spent fifteen minutes alone with your thoughts?
Smartphones and tablets are amazing devices. In under a decade we've gone from the novelty of checking email on a Blackberry to a world where they hardly leave sight. Pew Research noted in 2010 that 65% of adults slept with their phone on their bed. We check our social streams before we pour coffee in the morning. We're tweeting from the bathroom, texting while driving, checking-in at restaurants and browsing the web from church. The era of always -on connectivity has helped us learn more, entertain more, and grow our careers. Still, I often wonder if Shakespeare was on to something, all those years ago: Too much of a good thing, you know.
To think, or not to think?
One of the challenges of the always-on era is understanding its impact on our ability to think. Consider the following: When was the last time you sat alone, with just your own thoughts. No television, iPod or smartphone feeding content into your brain. Do you remember what it was like? It might be hard simply to remember the last time it happened. Going "off the grid" has become the modern equivalent of seeing a unicorn.I can only speak for myself, when I say that it's increasingly hard to carve time out to think on my own. The temptation to "google everything" during dinner conversations, the fidgety-feeling that I need to be doing something, saying something, showing off, when I'm sitting in a coffee shop, seems to grow every day. Even when I'm pointedly taking a break - a vacation, a day with my camera, or writing in my journal - I feel the tempting pull of my media device.
Thank goodness there's a new killer app
It's called Off. You've probably heard of it. It's been around for a while. Remarkably, it's already built into everything. Off has been included, free of charge, on most of the devices vying for your mind-time. You don't need to watch a video tutorial to take advantage of Off. But you do need to practice.
You might find it disconcerting
The first time you use Off can be a little difficult. Going from all that input to mostly silence can be jarring. I didn't realize how much of my time was spent listening to other people's thoughts, rather than thinking on my own, until I decided to practice using Off every day.Here's a challenge: Try using Off for fifteen minutes a day. You might scoff, but I bet you can't do it the first time, for the full fifteen minutes. I try to use Off first thing in the morning. That's when my brain has the greatest chance of retaining its own voice, just after some sleep. I've found that the more I do it, the better my thoughts have become lately. I'm friends again with someone very special: that voice that used to be the only one in my head.
Remarkably, Off works wonders for your productivity, too. Recently, I was struggling to write an opening parable for a speech. After outlining it, I found myself at the keyboard, multiple browser tabs open, searching stories, jokes, quotes and phrases from everyone else's thoughts. But I needed a solution that was mine. I don't want my work to just be a copy of someone else's original effort. Meanwhile, someone I didn't know on Twitter was demanding my response, and Facebook told me someone's pet needed my attention, too. For some reason, after two days at it, I still handn't written my opening story.
Suddenly, I remembered Off.
This time, I sustained Off for twenty-seven minutes. A record, really, considering I have a video screen in every room of my house. But what I discovered was that whenever I practice thinking by myself, I get stuff done. Me, myself, and a cup of coffee, just letting my mind do its job. Creating ideas, solving problems, seeing connections, and discovering opportunities. Considering my brain was designed to do this more than forty thousand years ago, it's probably the oldest app I really own. I think I should use it more.
You should try Off from time to time, too. You'll be amazed at what you can still do: Review the events of the past day, imagine what you'll do with your time today, and generate ideas for reaching your goals. Even just reliving a wonderful moment from your past. Think of all the times you've had a great idea pop in to your head when you're in the shower. Now, do it on purpose, by activating Off on a regular basis. Every week I'm asked by people all around the world: What's the next great technology, marketplace or tool, to help them reach their goals? Where will this market/society/industry go? What can we do to innovate/lead/capture the future? Big questions, seeking big answers.
Funny how we've come to expect some 99-cent application to give us the answers. Especially since we have the most powerful application of all time right there in our heads.
So use technology to do the research, find data, and have discussions that matter.
But when it comes to generating the answers you need to reach your goals, try the most killer app of all time:
Off.
So you can turn on your mind.