Consumption Fast
A few weeks ago I did a Consumption Fast.
(BTW, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to write more. Just because I enjoy it! I’m posting here because it holds me accountable. :) So here we go…)
What's a Consumption Fast?
For 1 week:
No books, no kindle, no audible
No podcasts
No online articles (even for "work"!)
No news of any kind
No consuming on social media - insta, fb, twitter etc. (posting was ok!)
No TV, Netflix, youtube, etc.
No mindless scrolling on my phone
No wikipedia (this one was actually one of the hardest 😂 - going down wikipedia rabbit holes is my guilty pleasure...)
The idea spurned out of a book I'm reading, The Artist's Way. The challenge was to "not read" for 1 week. The idea was that, if we stop reading and stop constantly putting inputs into our system, we'll ultimately "run out of things to do, and have to play." As someone who is addicted to reading, consuming, etc., (I listen to audiobooks in the shower...)I was intrigued.
It reminded me of my 10 day Vipassana I did in 2017. A 10 day silent meditation retreat (which I actually did over my birthday!) where we meditated for 11 hours a day. Along with the 11 hours of meditation, there were a lot of other strict rules, including no talking, no reading, no writing, no electronics (you gave your phone up when you got there), no eye contact, and the real kicker --> no meals after 11:30AM! 😅As torturous as this might sound to some, I found it incredibly soothing and peaceful. It was the first time in my life I realized I didn't have "a bad memory". I just had bad habits around attention. During these 10 days, my mind lit up in a way it hadn't before, my memory was incredible, my digestion was the best it's ever been, and I truly had the best birthday of my life. At that time, I accredited a lot of these benefits to the simplicity and focus we had while being off the grid at the retreat. However, I didn't think I could translate that to "real life" back home. Felt like something I had to "get away" and quit work for an extended period of time in order to reap those benefits.
Which is why the concept of a "reading fast" intrigued me. Could I recreate some of the benefits of the Vipassana while also working a normal work week (which is like 80+ hours as a startup founder right now 😅)? I'm always experimenting with ways to get better focus, brain power, and clarity. I had to try.
So I did. For one week, Saturday to Saturday, I let go of most all inputs.
The results were incredible.
😌Significantly less stress: I wasn't expecting this one! But I was significantly less stressed and worried. I actually felt more joy throughout my day. My brain started to use the small minutes between meetings, etc to process what happened, instead of numbing out scrolling on social media or the news. I felt content. I didn't realize that by consuming so much previously, I was just adding trash to my brain so it was over-cluttered and unable to process the important things.
🧠Better focus & memory: I was able to stay focused during meetings and remember things much better. Hard to quantify this one, but it was night and day difference. I didn't let the little things drop. One of those things that you just feel.
⏱Days felt longer: Things slowed down. The days felt separate. My activities felt separate. Normally, I would put on a podcast or a book while I was cooking, and it would feel like one activity would just run up against another. Instead, i felt like activities had separation since I was focusing on each one 100%. The hours and days felt longer - in a good way.
😴Better sleep: I slept deeper, longer, and with less interruption. I think part of it is that I actually just went to sleep, instead of fitzing around on my phone for 30 mins (ok, an hour 😂) before bed every night just trying to numb my mind! I got above a 90 score on my Oura ring for sleep and readiness almost every night!
Some other interesting insights...
The first 3 days were painfully hard.
I had no idea what to do with myself for the first few days. It felt ok while I was working - since my breaks were just pretty short between meetings, etc. However, the first day I shut down my laptop, and felt so uncomfortable. I literally just stared at the wall...no idea what to do. (it's also a pandemic and dark outside, so can't really go anywhere 😅) I started beating myself up for "not knowing how to have fun". I also realized that our modern world is not set up for a consumption fast. I had nothing in my apartment "to do" outside of the essentials: work stuff, eating stuff, showering stuff, etc. I ended up literally cleaning out my closet and organizing the kitchen. 😂Struggling through that was part of the process.
I'm more addicted to consuming than I thought...
As I mentioned, I tend to listen to books while in the shower. The first day of the consumption fast, I stood outside my shower for a good 5 minutes feeling so uncomfortable. I realized I didn't know how to shower without listening to something! It had become such a habit. Embarrassing, but true! It was still uncomfortable 7 days in, but got slightly better over time.
The discomfort came from not wanting to be alone with my thoughts.
I was nervous what might pop up if I was alone with my thoughts. Especially before bed or at a time when I'm winding down. I was so fearful of this that I had been unintentionally numbing myself with constant audio. What I discovered was that, my previous habit of numbing actually caused most of my anxiety and stress. It was the unresolved, unprocessed thoughts that were spinning around in the back of my mind that ruined my focus. When I actually let myself have that empty time to process, things felt easier and calmer. This is what led to so much less stress during this week!
I can think and process in my head, not just on paper.
This was a HUGE revelation for me! I used to believe I was squarely a "talk to think" person not a "think to talk" person. (i.e. someone who needs to talk or write it out to understand her thoughts versus someone who carefully thinks in their mind and then speak afterwards). This week crushed this belief. I used to get down on myself bc I believed this was a flaw that I couldn't "think clearly in my head". This consumption fast taught me, it wasn't me, it was actually my environment -- the constant chatter of consuming and inputs - that was causing my inability to think in my head. I'm not sure how I'll train this muscle, but was incredible to see it was there, even just after 1 week.
Lastly, I didn't miss much.
Lots of stuff happened in the world. But I really didn't miss much at all. I got important updates from my team and friends - the Texas winter storm, etc. And the rest of the stuff - well, I guess it wasn't that important. :)
So many more interesting insights, but I'll leave this here for now. As with every experiment I do, I keep what worked and throw away the rest. So this time...
Keep: No consumption in the small moments (moments between meetings, standing in line for coffee, etc.), no consumption in the shower, and no consumption before bed. Those 3 were significant moments for me.
Throw Away: Strict zero consumption outside of certain days I've pre-planned. Realistically not going to work for me. I want to read etc.
On to the next experiment!
Love,
Tara