Week One, Analog:

So.
I just finished my first full week living analog.

I’m gonna tell you ALL about it but first! I have an announcement!

I’ve had so many wonderful humans in my life ask for this and I had so much fun playing podcast guest last year that I’m FINALLY launching my own!!!

I’ll share all the links on where you can find me:

YouTube for Video: https://www.youtube.com/@InsideOutEngineering
(Right now its just two little shorts, the pod is dropping on the 2nd)

And then Spotify is dropping on Feb 2nd with the first episode!

ANYWAY. I’m so excited to share this next chapter with you! I love writing and it’ll still be here but I also want to incorporate more conversations. You may see a familiar face or two!

(and if you want to play podcast with me and be a guest, I would LOVE IT. Send me a note and we’ll get in the studio!)

ok! so week one has honestly been liberating.

I won’t lie, the first few days were… weird.

I was walking around with both phones in my hand (because I know we ALL use our phones as little comfort blankets these days)

But every time I’d reach for my iphone I just stared at it.

Checking. Waiting. Anticipating something to ping.

Except nothing did

You’ve Got Mail!

Normally, I’d get notifications all day long. Little hits of urgency sprinkled everywhere.

This week, those messages showed up in batches when I was home or on my computer. And somehow that felt gentler?
Like when I was sitting down, I knew exactly what I was signing up for and then I could just walk away!

It felt like my nervous system finally understood when it was allowed to rest. I didn’t have to be “on” all the time.

Texting Got Short. Calling Came Back.

Another thing that shifted fast: texting.

I was never a huge texter, but now it’s basically two or three messages max. Then I just call.

No “hey are you free?”

I pick up the phone.

And people answer. Or they call back.

One of my friends literally just called me while driving somewhere because she thought of me. None of this scheduling crap…

It felt… human. And honestly kind of nostalgic?

There’s something regulating about hearing someone’s voice. (and it also releases oxytocin so WIN for neuroscience on phone calls ya’ll!)

I mean look at her joy!!

The TV Thing (And Where the Hours Came From)

This was also my first full week without TV.

No background noise while cooking.
No TV just being on because silence feels strange.
(Because being the oldest of 5 kids, silence has always felt strange….)

But suddenly… I had time.

Ya’ll I have the same workload. Same long days. That didn’t magically go away.

But when dinner ended, I wasn’t already mentally fried. That combo of not having my phone and email follow me everywhere - even the bathroom - meant I had extra mental space.

So instead of vegging out after a long day in front of the TV, I started winding down.

Even making a little ritual of it. Make a nice up of tea, curl up with a good book.

(THANK you to all my friends who kept pushing ACOTAR)

And my husband and I started doing things together again.

Cards.
Catan.
The couples game.
Drawing.

Sometimes he plays music and I read. Like a tiny living-room concert just for us.

It’s been incredibly nourishing.

Movie Night Felt Like an Event Again

When Friday movie night came around, it actually felt special.

We picked snacks.
Looked through DVDs.
Talked about what we were in the mood for.

Watching a movie felt intentional again. Something we chose, not something that just happened.

Movie night felt special again.

Like Friday Night movie night when Disney Channel was premiering an original movie and you had to scream at your siblings to hurry back when the commercials were over 🤣 

The Annoying Parts (Because There Are Some)

People send me links constantly.

Images show up the size of my thumb. Flyers with details are unreadable.

That part is annoying.

So I forward things to my husband or my work phone when I need to see them clearly.

I also went to get my car serviced, and the dealership sent me one of those digital service reports. I didn’t see it.

Instead, the guy came out with paper, walked me through everything, and we ended up having a great conversation about my flip phone.

Turns out having a dumb phone is a fantastic conversation starter.

Logistics take more steps but workarounds exist.

The tradeoff still feels worth it!

The Bigger Shift I’m Noticing

I’m less inclined to text.
More inclined to connect.

I don’t have everyone’s number in this phone yet, so there’s a lot of “new phone who dis” energy happening.

It’s clunky.

And also kind of grounding.

The combination of no TV and an analog phone has changed how my energy moves through the day. I feel steadier. Less reactive. More present.

Week one feels really good.

Next week I travel, which will be interesting because travel lives on our phones now. Boarding passes, maps, confirmations, all of it.

I’ll report back.

For now, this experiment feels like it’s giving me something back I didn’t realize I’d been missing.

More soon.

Stop Drowning In AI Information Overload

Your inbox is flooded with newsletters. Your feed is chaos. Somewhere in that noise are the insights that could transform your work—but who has time to find them?

The Deep View solves this. We read everything, analyze what matters, and deliver only the intelligence you need. No duplicate stories, no filler content, no wasted time. Just the essential AI developments that impact your industry, explained clearly and concisely.

Replace hours of scattered reading with five focused minutes. While others scramble to keep up, you'll stay ahead of developments that matter. 600,000+ professionals at top companies have already made this switch.

Join them today, for free.