The Daily Stoic - How Do You Fill The Void?

Episode Date: February 7, 2019

Seneca wrote constantly about time. One of his most compelling observations was about how people are protective of their money, their property, their possessions, yet careless with the one thing they can’t get back. “It’s not that we have a short time to live,” he said, “but that we waste a lot of it. Can you imagine what he would say about the fact that today people average more than 5 hours a day on mobile devices? That’s 52 days a year—one-seventh of our lives—murdered! Cal Newport’s excellent new book Digital Minimalism, which just released this week, is an attempt to change that--to focus on limited time on the things that matter (deep work, family, being present, even the study of philosophy). In our interview with Cal for DailyStoic.com, he explained the two reasons why this is increasingly easier said than done. The first is that there are really smart computer scientists specifically engineering these devices and social media platforms to foster compulsive use. The second: “It fills a void. Life is hard. This hardness is especially manifested during those periods of downtime when you're alone with your thoughts. People avoid these confrontations through constant, low quality digital distraction much in the way that people of another era might have dealt with these difficulties with heavy drinking. But this is just a band-aid over a deeper wound.”How should we fill the void?“As the ancients taught us, the sustainable response is to instead dedicate your free time toward things that matter. Take on as much responsibility as you can bear, seek out quality for the sake of quality (as Aristotle recommends in The Ethics), serve your community, connect with real people in real life and sacrifice for them.All of this can seem daunting as compared to clicking "watch next" on your Netflix stream, but once engaged in these deeper pursuits, it's hard to go back to the shallow.”What if instead of reaching for our phones for even a dozen of the more than 2,600 times per day (!!) the average user engages with their mobile device, we reached for a journal and a pen? Or a book? Or what if we reached for nothing at all and just stared at the ceiling lost in thought? There are few problems you couldn’t solve if those 5 hours per day were spent thinking instead of scrolling. Put some distance between you and your devices today. Fill the void with things that add value to your life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystowach.com. How do you feel, Levoid? Sennaka wrote constantly about time. One of his most compelling observations was about how people are protective of their money, their property, their possessions, yet careless with the

one thing they can't get back. It's not that we have a short time to live, he said. But that we waste a lot of it. Can you imagine what he would say about the fact that today people average more than five hours a day on mobile devices. That's 52 days a year, one-seventh of our lives murdered. Cald Newport's excellent new book, Digital Minimalism, which was just released this week, is an attempt to change that, to focus on the limited time we have, and focus it on the limited things that matter,

our deep work, our family being present, even the study of philosophy. And our interview with Kyle for Daily Stoic, he explained the two reasons why this is increasingly easier said than done. The first is that there are really smart computer scientists specifically engineering these devices and social media platforms to foster compulsive use.

The second, he said, is that it fills a void. Life is hard. This hardness is especially manifested during those periods of downtime when you're alone with your thoughts. People avoid these confrontations through constant, low quality digital distraction, much in the way that people of another era might have dealt with these difficulties with healthy drinking. But this is just a bandaid over a deeper wound. So how should we fill the void?

Kyle said, as the ancients taught us, the sustainable response is to instead dedicate your free time towards things that matter. Take on as much responsibility as you can bear. Seek out quality for the sake of quality as Aristotle recommends in the ethics. Serve your community, connect with real people in real life and sacrifice for them. All of this can seem daunting compared to clicking watch next on your Netflix stream, but once engaged in these deeper pursuits,

it's hard to go back to the shallow. So that's a great question. What if instead of reaching for our phones for even a dozen of more, the 2600 times per day, the average user engages with their mobile device, we reached for a journal or a pen or a book, or what if we reached for nothing at all

and we just stared at the ceiling, lost and and thought there are a few problems you couldn't solve if those five hours a day were spent thinking instead of scrolling so put some distance between you and your devices today fill the void with things that add value to your life and one of those things I would suggest is Cal's new book check it out it's called digitalism. You can get it ironically as an audiobook or an ebook or of course my preference, a real life physical book. Check it out. It's a great book.

Digital Minimalism and check out our interview with Cal at dailystowuck.com. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke early and ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts.