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It is no secret we are in a state of screen-overload. Some days we go from one screen to the next before our eyes can even refocus on the 3D world around us. Most jobs require at least some screen time and so does most of our recreation. I know, there are a lot of cat videos that need to be watched!

While research into how screen time affects us lags behind, many of its affects are clearly visible. We have all seen groups or couples gathered together, each with head down buried into their individual screens, no one sharing the same experience. We know of people who are so compelled to stay connected they risk their lives to text while driving. It is as if the very technology that was meant to “free” and connect us, now separates and enslaves us.

This is not an anti-technology rant. The tech we have today is amazing and continues to get even more amazing everyday. We have advanced across nearly every pillar in the past 10 years faster than we have in the past 100. And, who knew cats were so entertaining? No, this blog is about what I learned during my screen-free day.

It was a Sunday, like any other Sunday – in fact, it was yesterday – the sun rose slowly in the east, birds chirped and fluttered about, people took to the roads on their way to church, a hike, or work. It was just a normal Sunday. However, this Sunday I decided to keep the laptop closed and the iPad on the shelf. I even turned the data off on my phone so all it was able to do was, be a phone. We don't own a TV so that's not an issue - we do watch Netflix and Amazon, we aren't barbarians: but not this day. This day, all day, I was internet-free, email-free, movie-free, even spreadsheet-free. This day I was screen-free.

Crazy? You bet. But, crazy enough to make it my new norm for Sundays.

Some of what I learned from my screen-free day you'd expect. I spent more time outside (fortunately, it was a day below 110 degrees F); I walked to a new cafe that I been meaning to try; I sketched; I took a nap. I had more time in my day, it was spacious and relaxing. No surprise there.

Another thing that you'd expect to find in a screen-free day is talking with real people, mainly my wife. We sat outside and watched the dust storm roll in (OK, that was only about 5 minutes: It came in fast and we had to run back in). We had cheese and crackers and talked about our highs and lows and how important it is for us to believe in our work and to have faith we are on the right track. We are both at a bit of a transition in our creative lives, each of us calling in the perfect conditions for support – but that is another story. The point is, we shared ourselves with each other. The sharing of one's self with another is what it means to communicate. Whether one is discussing their darkest fears or what they had for dinner (could be one and the same) they are sharing a part of themselves, and each part is special and worthy of screen-free attention.

The biggest revelation I had during my screen-free day was my unconscious habit of continuously using the internet to explore answers and ideas. “Well,” you say, “that is what the internet was designed to do.” True. After all, we are wired by evolution to seek answers and move to action. It has kept animals alive for the past 635 million years. And now we have the internet to help with our answer-action survival skill. Yes, it is easier and more convenient than ever to quickly find answers and move to action. However, at what cost?

After 15 years teaching and facilitating creativity and creative problem solving, I have found the questions to be much more powerful than the answers. As Trinity said in the Matrix, “It's the question that drive us.” She couldn't have been more right! I have written about the power of questions in creativity in my past blog entries. These are worth a reread.

With a wired propensity to seek answers I found myself itching for Google during my no-screen day. It was very eye-opening to watch as my brain ran through a few ideas and their related questions and immediately thought to reference the internet. Without the internet and with the library closed on Sundays (it's a building with books and other reference materials) I was left to sit with the question, to explore and evolve the question, to be driven by the question.

The more we sit with a question the more it refines itself. We are actually smarter than we think. Given time to ruminate, the question sometimes answers itself. In that case, you an take the answer to Google and find out who else is exploring such answers. Then maybe you can connect with them and share a bit of yourself at a nearby cafe you have been meaning to visit.