We depend on others for connection, inspiration, energy, and love most of the time. Here are a few important benefits of a little alone time: The importance of alone time in a social setting can help to increase one’s power of observation, critical thinking, and the ability to pay attention to the smallest of details. Being in the field and seeing what real people experience is a must. I also realised that being a cultural and operational voyeur is an experience that every executive could benefit from. I felt a sense of calm that I don’t normally feel when I’m eating with others, and I realised I could benefit from being alone and without technology a little more often. I realised that I like myself just enough to take “me” out for dinner and have a conversation in my head, watch the world go by, and enjoy recharging my brain.Īs I sat at the candlelit table, time seemed to slow down just a little. I became a cultural voyeur, a fly on the wall, and realised what a privilege it is to be alone for small periods of time to relax and reflect. I studied my surroundings and picked up on the moods and attitudes in the room. I ate dinner slowly, appreciating the tastes and textures more than usual, and I casually observed the crowd. Overcoming the feelings of being alone and uncomfortable, I decided (or convinced myself) that I actually liked being at dinner alone and phoneless with no one to talk to or entertain, except myself. I’m alone, I’m not interesting enough, and I’m certainly not talking on my dead phone so I can’t look loved, important, or connected. People don’t eat alone in New York, so what does this say about me? This was a sudden act of social bravery.Īs I sat at a candlelit table and stared out at all of the connected, happy, conversational couples and groups filling the air with chatter, I suddenly felt very alone and socially awkward. I rarely eat alone and I make it a rule never to eat alone in New York. I checked in at 11 p.m., starving, and I grabbed a table for one at the hotel restaurant.
I felt a sense of calm that I don’t normally feel when I’m eating with others.īehold, I survived the 45-minute ride to the hotel without my phone and my social network. I jumped in the cab line and headed into the city disconnected from the world at large.Īs I sat at the candlelit table, time seemed to slow down just a little.
How was I going to contact the driver who was circling the airport waiting to pick me up? First World problems can be easily solved. How was I going to check my email, voicemail and texts?”
I reached for my iPhone and discovered the battery was dead. “Fast-forward to last Tuesday night when my flight landed at JFK. I’m never alone because I’m always connected, always surfing, texting, and talking–and while I love Jony Ive’s design brilliance, I despise the dependence and control this device has on me. It’s my adult pacifier that I cannot live without, and as a result, I have a false sense of connectedness.
For some reason, I’m convinced that I should look at it every five minutes. It never leaves my side–and as a self-prescribed IDIOT, it’s always on. But there’s a lot it can teach you about slowing down and rediscovering the quality of life, says Shawn Parr, for Fast Company It’s a modern-day nightmare…being alone and phoneless in a big city.