The Most Difficult Productivity Experiment Of All Time.
The Only Condition? Screen Time Less Than 1 Hour A Day. For Thirty Days Straight.
My first thoughts as I begin to think about this challenge are, “How the hell am I gonna pull something like this off? I can’t even post once a day for over a week straight. I’m like the least consistent guy on Earth!” And I suppose that’s a logically sound reaction.
But my second thoughts, which are much more powerful and are driving me to do this insane experiment, are telling me “you amount to nothing because everything you do is no longer productive and creative, and it’s literally all because of your phone. It’s that damn phone.”
And yes: I wholeheartedly think “It’s that damn phone” is no longer a chronically overused meme used by salty teenagers to criticize their parents for bad parenting: It’s very real. Very, very real, which is why I’m using it as a maxim that will be at the core of this challenge for the next thirty days.
The issue with the damn phone is so real, in fact, that I’m on par to spend SIXTEEN ENTIRE YEARS staring down at the barren black screen that illuminates only to cause me sadness and despair as I see influencers living my dream life while I waste away in my bed.
Don’t believe me? Try it yourself using this calculator from unplugged.com.
I bet you won’t be too happy with how your life is going to be lived either after you see that number.
Now let me give you a bit more background as to why and how I’m planning on completing this challenge, and why I think you should join me for the ride.
So first of all, why am I doing this, besides the obvious fact that I’m on track to spend 16 years looking down at a six inch piece of tech? Well, for many reasons. The first is discipline. Discipline is what gets things done. It’s constant motivation that never wavers in the face of circumstance or human emotion. It’s what I need to be the best version of myself that I can be. The second is my desire to be better than I was yesterday. 1% better every day is a maxim to live by, and one that will, again, help me be the best version of myself that I can be. I guess you could say that becoming the best version of myself possible, Daniel Superman if you will, is my ultimate goal. What that constitutes of, I will be journaling in the coming month.
Now onto the how. How in the world am I going to pull this off? Well for starters I have an app called Opal. (This is not sponsored btw, but if you do happen to actually download it please use my code so you can get premium completely for free for a month. No catches. My code is: RC5KF.) Essentially, Opal is an app that acts like screen time but forces you to wait before opening apps that you restrict. For example, I have Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube all restricted, so before I open them I have to wait a minute, two minutes, or longer in order to open them, helping me think about what I’m about to do before I do it instinctively and get hooked instantly.
Secondly, I think sheer discipline will actually get me through. If I truly put my mind toward it and journal the process every day, including talking about the hardships and everything, then I should be able to do it.
So why should you do it with me? I think it’s obvious after reading all that. So come along for the ride and let’s both improve to become the best version of ourselves we can possibly become.
I’ll see you tomorrow for day 2. Please fill out the form below if you want to journal with me online and spread our journey together to the world. I will publish your journal alongside others day-by-day. It should be fun to see how others are faring with you. Cheers, and see you all tomorrow.
