What Happened When I Cut Myself Off From the World for 2 Weeks

I cut notifications out of my life.

No email, Slack, Facebook, or LinkedIn on my phone.

Then I went on vacation to Punta Del Este, Uruguay for 2 weeks.

I chose to live on airplane mode.

As much as I love technology,

It kills productivity and creativity.

The constant buzzing of my phone on the nightstand makes it impossible to sleep.

And even harder to focus.

The problem with our society today is our obsession with instant gratification.

Every email, message, and like needs to be looked at right away.

Nothing can wait.

Don’t get me wrong: I was a victim of this for years.

But living in Uruguay has given me a new perspective.

Everything here is slowed down.

People take over an hour to get lunch together. Sometimes two.

Not five minutes for a protein bar at their standing desk.

People drink their yerba mate without stopping to check their phone every second.

People take 15 days of full vacation in January.

And when they return? Shocker:

The world is still there waiting for them.

Nothing falls apart.

True success is knowing how to blend urgency with having a life.

There isn’t a single message that needs a response right now.

In fact, the biggest mistakes I’ve made in business all happened when I responded too quickly.

I didn’t think through the proper solution.

I replied with emotion, not strategy.

Not sure what to do? Sleep on it.

Try deleting all the attention killers on your phone.

It could be the best decision you ever make for your career.

And an even better one for your life.