I think it's nice sometimes not to be plugged in 24/7 to email and the Internet and everything else. It's nice to get away.
I shut down social media because I needed to shut out online distractions and engage with the people, issues, and work right in front of me.
My mind is constantly going. For me to completely relax, I gotta get rid of my cell phone.
During the summers, when I'm in Maine, I work at a desk that's located beyond all tendrilly wi-fi reaches. It takes me a few days to break the constant e-mail-checking habit, then I find I don't want to check my e-mail ever, and often don't for days.
Recently I was directing an episode of 'Glee' and I lost my cell phone - and I didn't have time to buy a new one for three weeks. Well, the first few days I was anxious as hell, suffered the delirium tremens, didn't think I could make it through, etc. Then something kind of curious happened - I began to feel great.
I'm always interested in whatever I can do to not look at my phone.
I always run without music. Being disconnected is what I'm addicted to more than anything. There aren't many places where you can be without your phone and computer. I've started to crave and enjoy that time alone.
It's very powerful to shut down your computer and escape into the real world.
For days on end, I avoid the Web, never logging in until about two or three, after I've written all morning. On a good week, I don't go online till after Wednesday, so four or five days might lapse without my checking e-mail.
Even when you take a holiday from technology, technology doesn't take a break from you.
Any excuse to get away from the computer screen is welcome.
I try to make a point in my life to leave the cell phone in the car sometimes, to try to unplug as much as possible.
I see some kids whose social media is their whole world, and I actually think it's good to disconnect from that.
I'm trying to call more and text less. I don't want to check my phone 5,000 times a day anymore. It was getting to me. I'm bringing 'old' back.
Give yourself time to digitally detox from your constantly connected life, and keep your phone away from your bed.
I begin to cut myself off in a digital shutdown at about 10 P.M. Phone, laptop, and iPad go down. If I'm at home, I'll leave my laptop and iPad in the living room. Those things don't go into my bedroom at all.
I was on my bike, cycling to Stanford, and it struck me that a week had gone by without my having a phone. And everything was just fine. Better than fine, actually. I felt more relaxed, carefree, happier.
I'm not one of those guys who walks around with a flip phone who doesn't want to be connected. There are times when I'm tech-friendly, and there are times when I personally do want to shut everything off because I'm more creative when I shut off.
What I try very hard to do is have an hour or so in the morning when I leave the house and don't have my phone with me. I'll go sit in a cafe and read and handwrite in my notebook and not be facing a screen. My head will be clear. I will be able to hear myself think. Because honestly for the rest of the day it's just screens, screens, screens.
My goal is a tech-free Saturday.
I actually have this fantasy of giving up my cell phone.
Technology is notorious for engrossing people so much that they don't always focus on balance and enjoy life at the same time.
I find it refreshing to unplug from it for a while. You kind of forget how deeply you get embedded in it.
I'm actually a big fan of turning off my phone and ignoring it for large chunks of the day.
We're all drowning in data. We all need moments of recovery. For me, that includes not going right to my phone when I wake up in the morning.
