I’ve been traveling a lot in the last few weeks. I’ve hit 15 cities in just over 3 weeks and I’m ready for a break. I haven’t disconnected for longer than a couple days in over three years. Usually, when I’m on vacation, I enjoy the mix of work in the morning/evening and experiences and time off the other half of the day.
This time, I’m ready to completely detach and let things go for two weeks. I’m about to fly to Nairobi, Kenya where I’ll enjoy a few days in the city to meet friends and have an EO / E≤30 dinner, I’m going to the Masai Mara for a four day Safari and I’m spending a few days of the second week at the beach in Mombasa.
What do I hope to get out of my two-week digital detox?
My average sleep duration over the past 30 days has been an hour less than what I usually I aim for and one thing I’m looking forward to is getting some sleep and rest.
Another reason I want to fully disconnect is to be fully present in the moment for all the wonderful experiences that I have planned. It’s the first time in many years that I take a proper camera on my travels and I’m looking forward to focusing on living in the moment and capturing the nature in all these places that I have not been to before.
Last, but not least, I’m also using the time off from the day-to-day to think about long-term goals, strategy, and systems – both personal and professional.
Who’s taking over while I’m off?
My autoresponder is set (and may have led you here) and I’ve sworn to myself to not look at my email while I’m gone. However, Bojan, who works with me and helps me manage my travels and schedule, is keeping an eye on my email and will find a way to reach me if there’s anything urgent.
If we work together on a day-to-day basis, I have notified you about a week ago that I will disconnect and we’ve discussed important matters before my departure. If we work together less frequently, I may not have reached out and we usually don’t need to get things done from one day to the next.
How do I keep myself from connecting inadvertently?
I’m still bringing my phone. I need it to stay connected with my friends in Nairobi, as a backup and last but not least as a controller for my drone or to read my books and do my workouts.
But, I have disabled all push-notifications and I’ve moved all apps that could lead me to focus on work or could just distract me to a separate folder on my home screen titled ‘digital detox’ which I will not open. It includes Facebook, Instagram, Email, Slack, Skype, Jodel, Buffer, Calendar and the recently released Sendtask iOS app.
Summary
I’ll be offline for the next couple weeks to recharge my batteries and fully immerse myself in the experiences and adventures that await me in Kenya. Bojan, who works with me, will ensure nothing important remains idle – but also no unimportant tasks will get to me. I’ve moved all the apps that might distract me to a separate folder on my home screen and I’m looking forward to living in the moment.
When’s the last time you completely disconnected? What tricks did you use to avoid distractions?
