Michael
- Aug 23, 2022
- 3 min read

Put the phone down and go outside: How 30 minutes can change your life

We live in a world full of distractions. YouTube, news, anime, video games, Facebook, memes...all have their purpose to providing you entertainment, and sometimes information. However, the more we keep our heads buried into our phones and computers, the less capable we may become to resolving personal issues or coming up with new fantastic ideas. This is why it is crucial to put the phone down and take a walk in nature. Better yet, also try to squeeze 30 minutes of simply sitting on your balcony and just observe your thoughts.

Without distractions, we allow our thoughts to flow freely. While many of them may be random, you may acquire nuggets of truth, wisdom, and creativity with these roaming thoughts. This can help you find solutions or develop innovative ideas. It may even help you avoid a life-altering decision that you may regret later on.

The way the internet keeps our minds attention may also lead to more stress, especially in today's troubling world. The news economic collapse, famines, diseases, wars, etc. can all serve to keep us in a heightened state of panic and fear when there is no immediate threat to our lives. Even mundane gossip from celebrities with cancel culture and political correctness causes unnecessary stress that only serve to harm us mentally and physically, leading us into depression and anxiety. It may even cause us to adopt opinions and views we may never normally consider. Just for a day to start, try putting your phone on airplane mode for 30 minutes and take a walk outside.

Studies have shown that spending time outdoors can improve your mental health. This is because being in nature allows your brain to become more active, which can lead to a better mood, which may in turn result in a lower blood pressure, less stress, and improved mental health. This also allows our brains to collect our own thoughts, giving ourselves back control over our minds instead of passively letting our thoughts be written by content media online. Sure we can find inspiration from many forms of media like movies, books, TV, and internet content. However, by giving ourselves some time to observe our thoughts, we give ourselves better opportunities to embrace brilliant, creative ideas, assembling all the knowledge we gained into new and unique ways. A personal example, from the author, is a new idea for a movie. I got an idea for a dark comedy of a child with cancer who becomes President for a day through the Make-A-Wish foundation. Secretly an evil genius, the child gets his hands on nuclear codes and causes chaos not just with the nation but the world. It came to me one night when I was preparing for bed. I just got off playing World of Warcraft with my friend who mentioned a child who did a voice of a character in the game as part of the Make-a-Wish foundation.

These ideas and thoughts may help us succeed in life. Just as it is our ability to think clearly, that allows us to solve problems, to form good ideas, to find solutions, so too, is it our ability to observe our thoughts, that allows us to change our behavior. You may call it Self-Awareness. We challenge you for the next 30 days, set a timer for 30 minutes. Put your phone on airplane mode, and in those 30 minutes, either go for a walk or just take time to sit outside and let your mind wander.

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