Starting Friday Oct 16th, I'm doing a challenge, and I'd love for you to do it with me.
For the next 30 days, I'm going to spend one hour a day away from my phone. That's it. One hour, while I'm awake, with my phone somewhere I can't reach it. By November 15, that's at least 30 phone-free hours.
I’ll be using my app, Saalo, to keep track. If you have an iPhone, open the challenge on the App Store. Saalo is free, no ads, no subscription. Set your daily intention to one hour, and start a saalo each time you put your phone down. The app keeps count, and your Progress calendar fills in as you go. If you’re on Android, I’m still building an app for you - its just not ready yet. DM me and I can invite you to the beta.
Why an hour? It's long enough to actually notice. You can read a few chapters, cook dinner, go for a walk, or sit with a cup of coffee and let your mind wander. But it's short enough to fit into almost any day, even the busy ones. And I've found that skipping one day makes it a lot easier to skip the next.
Why 30 days? A weekend is easy. Even a row of weekdays is doable. A month is where it gets interesting. I want to see what happens when the hour stops being a decision and just becomes part of the day.
My hour is going to be morning. If you read my post on The Inner Game, you know I feel like its important to avoid letting your mind slip into reactive mode first thing in the morning. Of course, some mornings I may miss it, and I’ll try to find the time later in the day. For you, it may be lunch. Or Happy Hour. Or wind down time with the kids. What’s the hour you’d like to protect?
And if you miss a day, no big deal. Pick it back up the next day.
The coolest part for me will be seeing how my Oura data changes with more (or less) Saalo time over this month. Saalo has already shown me some interesting correlations between how long I step away from my phone and my step count and my sleep score! Excited to see what 30 days will show…
On November 15, I'll write back with how it went: my count, the days I missed, and what I noticed. And what my Oura Ring noticed. If you join, tell me in the comments which hour you're picking, and please check in along the way. I'd love to include what you notice too.
Who's in?