The truth is, our smartphones are whittling away the amount of time we have to just be. More than ever, we are human doings instead of human beings. Slowly but surely, over the last decade, we have allowed our devices to infiltrate every waking moment. Going for a walk? What a great time to listen to a podcast! Eating dinner? I bet the television is on. Doing the dishes? Time for an audiobook! Sitting on the toilet? What a perfect time to doomscroll. Hell, even sitting at red lights, people can’t handle not checking their phones.

Our devices are designed to maximize the time we spend on them. They are made to distract us, sell us, entertain us, and give us that cheap dopamine hit that we so deeply crave. It’s a form of Parkinson’s Law by Cyril Northcote Parkinson, “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” As we expand the amount of screentime we find acceptable, our devices will always find new ways to fill that time. But just because you can find a new digital way to waste your time, does that mean you should? Can you honestly recall more than five specific pieces of social media content you consumed yesterday? How about five individual pieces you consumed last week? And if you can’t remember what digital content you consumed, was it even worth consuming at all?

Parkinson’s Law is something that all business owners should be mindful of. Since 1980, productivity in the United States has increased by more than 60%, thanks to technology; however, many of us continue to work at least 40 hours a week. In reality, most of us could easily spend all our time working; there are always more tasks to do. But is that why you became a business owner? To be at the whim of your business, always working? Or did you build your business for freedom to live your life, on your terms, as you please? It’s so easy to justify our excessive device habits as “being productive,” but if you pay closer attention, is that true? Or are you giving your time and autonomy away to an inanimate object, made to keep you distracted from what really matters?

Refusing to be sold on how to allocate your time is a rebellion in and of itself. You control the devices; they don’t control you. Receiving a message or a notification is not a summons; it’s an invitation to connect. You are not required to respond immediately, no matter how urgent your phone may make it seem. If you are doing deep work, that should take priority. If it’s outside of your working hours, family, friends, and hobbies should take priority. One of the best things you can do to calm your nervous system is to rewire how you react to notifications; it’s rarely an actual emergency.

At this point, you’re asking, “Okay, we get it, we should use our phones less. What about the creative rebellion?”

Let’s consider time spent awake in three buckets: active, passive, and neutral. Active time is time spent creating things and putting them out into the world. Passive time is spent consuming information, be it audiobooks, scrolling, or watching television; we are taking in something new to us. Neutral time is the time spent integrating your passive and active experiences while going about your daily life; it’s when you’re doing the dishes, walking, or in the shower. This is the most valuable time and also the least common in today’s day and age.

Please Note: This active, passive, neutral time concept is not my own; it was shared with me by Ellie McMillan, an amazing business coach, and it has roots in Tesla’s 3-6-9 teachings and the Fourth Way spiritual teaching.

Why is neutral time so valuable? Have you ever heard someone say they have their best ideas in the shower? This is the perfect example of neutral time because you are giving your brain the free rein to integrate the new things you’ve learned with the current problems or dilemmas you are facing while in the process of creating. Another example comes from Sara Blakely, Founder of Spanx, who tells the listeners in her MasterClass to “Learn where you do your best thinking.” For her, it was in the car, but she lived incredibly close to the office, so she made up a daily commute for herself, just to give herself some time at the beginning and end of the day to think.

How much time do you have that is really neutral? Do you give yourself the space necessary to cultivate new ideas, to have unique thoughts, and to be creative with your work? The truth is, this is not easy; it can be tough as an entrepreneur or small business owner with more to-dos than support, and yet it’s more important than ever. Limiting screen time and being more intentional about leaving neutral space are highly underrated skills for business owners, not only to prevent burnout but also to develop your best ideas.

If you have gotten this far, you might be thinking, “I definitely display some of these habits, but what can I do to fix them?” Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to throw your phone away or even downgrade it to a flip phone with no internet access, so you spend less time on it. Devices are not going away. In fact, every year we are introduced to more and more of them: smartwatches, smart rings, smart glasses. I am, however, going to ask you to pay more attention. The most important thing you can do is notice when and how you are using your devices and decide with intention if that is how you want to be using them. If it is, rock on! If not, take steps to change your habits.

Below are some of the steps you may consider taking if your device use is limiting your creativity and neutral space in a way you don’t like.

Out of sight, out of mind.

If you want a productive morning, don’t touch your phone first thing; see how long you can go without it in the same room as you. I regularly leave my phone in my bedroom so I can focus in my office. You would be amazed at the difference I find when I start my day without scrolling. Not sure if this will help you? Try it, test yourself, and see if this actually does make a difference in your focus, productivity, and overall mood.

Lean into the discomfort of not having a distraction.

If you want to make sure you don’t use it as a shield at your next networking event, leave it in the car, in your pocket, or in your purse. Commit to yourself to keep it away, the whole time. At the first event, it will feel uncomfortable. If you find yourself reaching for your phone because you’re feeling awkward, notice that and then stay with the discomfort. The more often you do it, you will find that people are more drawn to chatting with you because you are more present and less distracted. This will lead you to building stronger connections, which was your real intention behind attending a networking event in the first place.

If you’re thinking, “Oh, but I just want to take my phone out and show this person a meme or video I saw,” maybe rethink the quality of the conversations you’re having. The least interesting thing you can do as a human in a conversation is pull your phone out and scroll for several minutes to find that one thing you’re referencing for your conversation, while the other person just stands there waiting, unsure what to do. If you want to be a more interesting human, be more interested in others; it will lead to far better conversations than any meme or reel ever could.

Take time to touch grass.

If you don’t have a daily or weekly practice of spending time in nature without your devices, you should really consider it. The sounds of nature activate the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) response and reduce the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) stress response. This means that spending time just listening to nature calms the brain, decreases your cortisol (stress hormone), and lowers your blood pressure. This improves your overall mood and cognitive function. This time in nature can be a neutral time and can help you combat the symptoms of burnout, such as chronic stress and high cortisol.

Do Not Disturb.

If you are on a deadline or really need to focus on something important, consider using the “Do Not Disturb” feature built into your phone. At first, people can be nervous about using this feature, but as they get used to it, they use it more and more. I use mine all the time. I particularly like it when I’m at a networking event, or yoga class, or walking in nature, and I don’t want to be interrupted. These features help me set boundaries for myself. If it’s on “Do not Disturb,” I won’t see notifications and get sucked into my phone when I should be enjoying the world around me.

Spend time in Digital Detoxes.

If you are struggling to set these boundaries for yourself, more and more spaces are popping up that are device-free digital detoxes. These are places where you can’t have your phone accessible. Where you are meant to be present in the moment, joining in whatever is going on. Spending time in these places is a great way to reset and take a break from screens. I once attended a Digital Detox retreat, where I didn’t see a screen for an entire week. It was heaven. That experience is what led me to open Presence&Co in Reading, MA, a Digital Detox space for adults to make friends without the digital distractions. If you would like to learn more about digital detoxes, please look us up at www.presenceandco.net, on Instagram @Presence_and_Co, or on Facebook at Presence&Co.

If you have made it all the way to the end, I applaud you for having a solid attention span. I hope this helps you reconsider how you choose to spend your time and just how much digital consumption you pack into your days. I wish you all the creativity, imagination, and inspiration possible in your neutral time. I’m sure your customers will thank you for it.

Resources

Please Note: This active, passive, neutral time concept is not my own; it was shared with me by Ellie McMillan, an amazing business coach, and it has roots in Tesla’s 3-6-9 teachings and the Fourth Way spiritual teaching.

Kaufman, A. B. (2023, August 23). Can the sounds of nature help heal our body and brain? Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-my-brain-works/202308/can-the-sounds-of-nature-help-heal-our-body-and-brain

Li, Q. (2019). Effect of forest bathing trips on human immune function. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 24(70).
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6695879/

Pardigm. (n.d.). Cortisol and burnout: Understanding stress and its impact. Pardigm.
https://www.pardigm.com/articles/cortisol-and-burnout

Ouspensky, P. D. (1949). In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching. Harcourt, Brace & Company.

This is a guest blog post written by Hannah Corbett, a community builder and entrepreneur dedicated to helping people reconnect in a distracted world. As the founder of Presence&Co, a modern third place in Reading, MA, she creates screen-free spaces and gatherings that inspire presence, purpose, and authentic connection. After a decade in healthcare operations and strategy, Hannah turned her experience with burnout into a mission to help others live and work with more balance and meaning.

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