3 More Tips for Practicing Silence
Here are my last 3 tips to help you start practicing silence and solitude.
In 2016 a report was leaked to the press from an Apple iOS security meeting that said the average person checked their smartphone 80 times a day (that’s about once every 9 min. during waking hours).[1] That was back when Instagram only had 500 million users (now 2 billion) and TicTok wasn’t even a thing. A recent study by Asurion reported we are now checking our phones over 200 times a day.
Studies have shown that even when we aren’t on them, if they are simply in our vicinity, they drain a little of our attention as we are aware of their potential to alert us. Add to this that social media companies such as Meta have learned they can use algorithms just like slot machines to withhold and give satisfaction (dopamine hits in our brains) that keep us going back for more, and suddenly you realize why smartphones are changing the way we function.
Tip 4. Yet, smartphones aren’t going anywhere. Turn them off or to airplane mode when you enter silence.
I know what you are thinking, “What if there is an emergency?” That takes me to the next tip…
Tip 5. Let others know you are unavailable. I often text my college age kids and simply say, “I’ll be unavailable for the next hour or so. Leave a text and I’ll call you as soon as I can.” If they know they can’t get me, they’ll contact their dad or another person they think can help.
It also helps me to remember that as a child in the 70s, whenever my mother left the house and ran errands, I had no way to reach her and I lived to tell about it.
But the truth is, there are no guarantees... There’s a great podcast by Ruth Haley Barton and Steve Weems in which Steve talks about Moses after his 40 days on Mt. Sinai with God. When Moses came back down from time alone with God (and receiving the Law), the Israelites had made a golden calf and were acting like pagans (Ex. 32).[2] Things went badly while Moses was gone. Yet, should Moses not have obeyed and spent that time on the mountain alone with God? You get the point.
Tip 6. Often, when we finally get in a place of silence, both verbally and mentally, we suddenly remember important items that need to be done. Have a scratch pad nearby so that you can write them down and take care of them after your time alone with God.
I hope these 6 tips will be helpful as you begin to practice silence and solitude. If you have others, leave them in the comments below.
[1] Nicholas Carr, WSJ article about smartphones and brain drain, Oct. 6, 2017.
[2] https://transformingcenter.org/2017/03/episode-2-leaders-journey-silence-solitude/
