Ironically, it was a notification on his phone that inspired author and podcaster Carlos Whittaker to embark on a seven-week screen-free journey that changed his life.
Whitaker, Joe lives in nashville Working on a “suburban farm” with his wife, three kids and dog, he knew he used his phone too much, but he didn’t consider it a problem until he sat down and did the calculations.
After receiving the alert, they had slept for an average of seven hours and 23 minutes Daily phone time That particular week, Whittaker realized that if he lived to be 85, he would have to spend more than a decade of the rest of his life on this device.
Keeping kids safe: ‘Wait till 8th’ pledge aims to empower parents not to give kids smartphones
In the summer of 2022, Whittaker will embark on a seven-week trip across the United States, living his life without any screen use.
He details his mission in his latest book, “Reconnected: How Seven Screen-Free Weeks with Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human,” published Sept. 10.
Carlos Whittaker (pictured) went without screens for seven weeks in 2022, which he described as a life-changing experience. (Carlos Whitaker)
“That’s exactly what I did. I lived with these monks and the Amish, and it completely changed my life,” Whitaker told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview.
The author spent two weeks at a monastery, two weeks with the Amish, and three weeks with his family, living entirely without screens.
“I lived with these monks and the Amish, and it completely changed my life.”
Before and after the experiment, Whittaker’s brain was scanned and analysed by neurologists – and he details those results in his book,
Whitaker, who described himself as an evangelical Christian, was associated with St Andrews Abbey – a Catholic, Benedictine Monastery in California – which allowed them to stay in a guest cabin for the first part of their trip.
Digital Detox
Whittaker abandoned the experiment at the very beginning.
“When you can’t get out of your head and pick up your phone and scroll through TikTok or X or whatever it is, and you’re stuck in your thoughts — that’s something we’re not used to, and I definitely wasn’t used to it,” he said.
She said the sudden digital detox led to a “four-day panic” as she experienced “panic attacks, night sweats, increased heart rate (and) anxiety”.
Whittaker said he almost gave up on his experiment as soon as it began, because he found the sudden lack of a smartphone too physically distressing. (iStock; Carlos Whittaker)
Whittaker said not having a phone felt like “relieving the intoxication of knowledge and control.”
But on the fifth day of the experiment, something changed.
“I literally felt like an elephant had gotten off my chest and I could breathe again“And I got it. But the first four days were crazy days.”
The increasing use of social media is having a bad effect on the mental health of teenagers
In the book, Whitaker writes about how he initially found living among Benedictine monks uncomfortable and felt they were Prayer Routine to be “boring”. (Benedictine monks pray the daily prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, at different times throughout the day.)
“I’ll be honest, I was really bored the first couple of days,” he said. “We were praying five or six times a day.”
“When you decrease the volume of life, the volume of God increases.”
But eventually, he said, “I got it,” adding that he has continued the tradition of prayer even after leaving the monastery.
“I missed it so much. It put a rhythm into my day,” he said. “It gave stability to parts of my faith that were maybe unstable.”
Whitaker lived for two weeks among Benedictine monks at St. Andrews Abbey in California and joined them in daily prayer and Mass. (Brian Chan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“What I learned from the monks is that every day, I have many opportunities to stop and slow down the pace of life.” , He said, “When you reduce the magnitude of life, the magnitude of God increases.”
Click here to sign up for our Lifestyle newsletter
After spending his time at the monastery, Whitaker moved to the Midwest and lived with an Amish family for two weeks. Religious Groups which is far removed from most modern technology.)
However, obtaining permission to live among the Amish was more challenging. Many of those Whitaker approached rejected him, as they were concerned about an outsider temporarily joining their community.
Whitaker spent two weeks with an Amish family as part of his screen-free experiment. (iStock)
“We finally got to a sheepherding family who said, ‘Sure, come on in.’” “And they helped me become as Amish as I could in 14 days,” he said.
During her seven screen-free weeks, Whitaker wrote a diary and recorded video each night on a small, screen-free camera.
Limiting screen time in infants may reduce risk of autism spectrum disorder, study finds
Those videos will be compiled into a documentary, also called “Reconnected,” which will be released Oct. 25, he said.
New habits
While Whittaker has largely returned to his pre-experiment life – including Smartphone usage – He has made some changes that he says have improved his life.
“This book is not about how bad phones are. This book is about how beautiful the other side of phones is,” he told Fox News Digital.
“This book is not about how bad phones are. This book is about how beautiful the other side of phones is.”
“Instead of having all these rules and restrictions around my screen time, once I started to wonder, to notice, to savor, to fall in love with a 90-minute meal — all these things I was doing without my phone, I started to pick up my phone less.”
Today, Whittaker uses his phone for about 3-½ hours a day, which is four hours less than before the experiment.
Balancing the pros and cons of social media screen time
“I’ve legitimately gained half of my life back, half of those years that I was losing before.”
4 tips to reduce screen time
Whitaker offered some tips for people who want to limit their daily screen time.
1. Charge your phone outside the bedroom
He said, “First of all, everyone should stop charging their phones in the bedroom and start charging them in another room.”
“Buy an alarm clock. I know it’s the craziest, most old-fashioned thing, but it will only wake you up.”
One of Whitaker’s tips for reducing screen time is to buy an alarm clock. (iStock)
2. Don’t pick up your phone right away
Whitaker suggested that people should “avoid looking at their phones for at least 30 minutes in the morning.”
Click here to get the Fox News app
“Now drink your coffee“When you drink the coffee, it tastes really good. You can taste it,” he said.
3. Subscribe to print media
Whittaker subscribes to a newsletter rather than relying on the constant buzz of a smartphone app.
4. Use the ‘Do Not Disturb’ feature
“I have my smartphone permanently on ‘Do Not Disturb’ so I never hear any ‘ding,'” he told Fox News Digital.
Whittaker said his smartphone is permanently on “do not disturb” for everyone except his family and his assistant. (iStock)
For more lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle
Whittaker has set up his phone so that only his assistants and family can contact him immediately.
“I never get any information. I never get any information,” he said.
