To me, that’s not too feasible now. In fact, I did this experiment 4 years ago, for three days with an initial plan of 10 days doing that. I lived with little to none human interaction, without gadgets and without connection for three days and the rest just limited consumption of things including food . Today, I wanted to have a similar experience this year although I am not sure if lately is doable because 4 years ago, I was just a student with little work responsibilities. But now, gadgets and devices are my gateway and things I use to work. If I have the opportunity to stay away from everything again, I definitely would.

I even went at length to live in darkness and just relied on natural lights. So basically this was the rules that I set for myself during those days;

Waking up at 6 am, make the bed and clean the surrounding
Meditate for 20 minutes after getting up
No phone is allowed, no internet checking
Go outside and enjoy nature
Read books
Journal and write 5 sentences
Write 5 sentences in a foreign language (I was picking German)
Go to bed by 10pm
Minimal consumption of lights.

In the end though, I meditated and slept a lot. I also only read in the morning because by night, I would live without lights. I live in a supportive environment for these. My apartment is perfect for all these, it’s like a mini solitary confinement where once you close the door, you’ll never know if it’s day or night. November to February are the most difficult months living inside because it’s cold, even darker, and once you cooped up inside and not talking to anyone, you can really lose your mind. But the place is a great hideout from the outside world, it’s the place where I enjoy spending time the most, away from people, and life’s drama. I also have more sense of control over everything.

During that time when I even limited my consumption to food and deprived myself of human needs, I also controlled myself a lot more. I gained more clarity and refreshed myself. I was not as exhausted as I was after a long period of travel and human exposure. I can go years with talking to people, being social and all that but that would require longer time for me to rejuvenate.

Thanks to this weekend-engagement prompt by @galenkp, now I remember what I was like 4 years ago and the things that I should attempt to do again when I have the chance.

If you are slave to your gadgets, give it a try.

To me, that experience was one of the most liberating experiences of all. It opens me up to possibilities that we can live without all of those and that we can fight our urges and control ourselves better. Although, I also learned we can’t punish ourselves like that, it’s okay to have fun and everything, just in moderation not like I was. So maybe limiting my food and electricity was honestly a bit too much.

Without gadgets around, I was able to walk more, to read more, to learn languages more effectively, and cleared my mind. About a few days ago, I actually spent about a day without phone and laptop, it wasn’t that bad. I picked up watercoloring, tended my garden, and tried to finish Dune. I did many things I couldn’t possibly do in my regular day. I even fixed my sleep problems too. Sometimes I think it’s really nice to have a day off without any of these. I would like to give more examples, without these your sanity is preserved. For example, when I see twitter, there’s endless tragedy, same with news, and youtube. It’s nice not to read about those sometimes or constantly fill our brain with useless information and Ads or what I like to call “internet aids”. And truthfully, the only place that I don’t read about tragedy as much is on hive although sometimes, I still need a day or two break from it.

At the time of doing that 4 years ago, I obviously didn’t travel far, just walking around my neighborhood which honestly something I didn’t do earlier and was refreshing. I was also fine with not posting regularly either unlike today where I feel sort of missing out if I don’t check on hive. You know, maybe it’s time for me to do that again, erasing that fear of missing out that sometimes is the source of my anxiety. I simply don’t like missing out on shiny new things or new information to be had which is kinda ironic.

I think with the endless stream of information these days, it’s nice to have a reset day.

If you happen to be without a gadget, I also have this book that I keep recommending everyone to read during that period, it's Siddharta by Herman Hesse . It’s best to read during moments of reflection and when you’re away from your gadget. I have a physical copy of that at my apartment and it was one of my required readings at university too. I definitely thank my professor for recommending that book for many of us. Anyway, this passage below is what I resonate the most even today.

Siddhartha was deeply horrified. So that was what he had come to; he was so lost,so confused, so devoid of all reason, that he had sought to death. This wish, this childish wish had grown so strong within him: to find peace by destroying his body. All the torment of those recent times, all the disillusionment, all the despair, had not affected him so much as it did the moment the OM reached his consciousness and he recognized his wretchedness and his crime.” - Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.

You can also find the book on google books and that excerpt is on page 72 here Siddharta Herman Hesse.

I also think these days escapism is growing stronger. Some of us really crave to live away from all these rules, regulations, and the need to use gadgets just to function in society; I am part of them. I hate it when I have to rely on applications just to go somewhere, to buy something, even basic needs like gasoline. I think It’s going to get more ridiculous. Although there is a part of cyberpunk in me that really wants everyone to have chips implanted in their fingers to make life easier. I considered this before and I had a few connections that did that who inspired me to do so. I can tell you as much, it’s pretty cool. But really,now less gadgets is something I personally need especially these days where I am once again consuming too much information.

Would you be willing to live without gadgets even just for the weekend?