Airplane Mode is Lindy As Fuck

When I need to connect with the present, I go on airplane mode and disconnect from the outside world.  I can't receive Twitter notifications, calls from family, or emails from work.  It's free peace with the click of a button.

Airplane mode may be made for airplanes, but it can be used at any time.

Sometimes, being on airplane mode is the only time I can think clearly.  I can just think about life, read and write, and sit with my dog.  With no ding or buzz to interrupt me, I end up in a timeless state of flow.

On airplane mode, I feel like a kid before I was hooked on social media and money.  It's like I'm seven years old playing with legos and sipping lemonade.

17th century mathematician Blaise Pascal said, “All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."  Imagine how much more distractions we have than he did.  It's not often we just sit quietly in a room alone anymore.

Airplane mode is lindy as fuck.

Being a human with no internet connection has been around for an infinitely much longer time than being a human with internet connection.  Evolutionarily speaking, we were not built to be connected to the internet at all times.

It's no wonder my generation is more anxious, depressed, and lonely than all previous generations before it.  While I'm a techno-optimist, I worry about today's iPad babies and TikTok addicts.  They have it much worse than I did.

Something about being on airplane mode — completely unreachable — helps me think clearly. When I’m on airplane mode, I think my most original thoughts.  I'm me without the Instagram filter or 280-character-limit that is the internet.

I love walking my dog around the graveyard down the street from me. I’ve written about this before, how my exes thought it was weird, how it’s kinda morbid. But, I find it really stoic and a peaceful way to collect my thoughts.

I think about how one day I’ll be dead, my dog will be dead, everyone I know will be dead. And while it’s sad, it helps me remember to seize the day — to take advantage of the time I have on earth and to have fun while doing it.

When I'm not on a walk, I'm laying in bed reading, writing, or journaling.  Connected to the internet, I have the attention span of a rabbit on cocaine.  Disconnected, it feels like I can think without having my train of thought interrupted every few seconds.

On airplane mode, I feel like my attention span increases and I can read for much longer and absorb significantly more. I’m just not thinking about what texts are coming in, anticipating how many retweets I’ll get on a tweet, or any of that bullshit.

I have no fears on airplane mode, I can simply write in my journal like no one will ever read it.  Strangely, it's when I'm not accessible to my readers, friends, or followers that I think of my most unique, highest performing tweets or articles.  

Contemplating life is lindy.  Writing and reading without technological distractions is lindy.  Being unreachable by your grandma if you're living in another state is indeed lindy.  It was only a few generations ago that letters were the primary form of communication.

When it's time for bed, I always turn on airplane mode. My girlfriend and dog are next to me.  If my friends or parents have a health scare, I'll find out in the morning.  There's nothing I can do — I'm a writer, not a doctor.

I did not sign up to be on call for anyone and everyone across the world.  I think it's this feeling like anyone can contact us at every time that gives us so much anxiety.  We're always a text message away from being interrupted from whatever we are doing.

I've seen apps for blocking out email reading windows and jars made to lock up your phone, but fortunately, there's a much simpler, free thing you can do.  Drag down your menu, put your phone on airplane mode, and reconnect with yourself.  You need it.