Hi Reader,

We don’t spend enough time bored anymore.

Not real boredom, the kind where you’re just sitting with your own thoughts. No phone. No background noise. No quick dopamine hits from scrolling. Just you, your thoughts, and maybe a little discomfort.

But here’s the thing: there’s value in that discomfort. In those in-between moments. The ones where you’re not being fed another video, another notification, another metric.

Because when we never give ourselves that space, we start to lose something important: the ability to feel. Not in a dramatic or emotional way, just in the sense of knowing where we’re at, physically and mentally. Our own internal compass starts collecting dust.

The irony is, we’re more “informed” than ever. We have wearables that give us recovery scores, sleep scores, readiness metrics, data for everything. And there’s value in that. But when you start outsourcing your decisions to a number on a screen, you lose the ability to self-regulate. To check in. To ask: how do I actually feel right now?

I’ve experienced this myself. There were days I’d look at my sleep score and immediately tell myself, “I’m not ready to train today.” Not because I felt bad, but because the app said I should feel bad. That’s the difference.

The tech is supposed to be a tool, not a crutch. It should support your awareness, not replace it.

Lately, I’ve been trying to get back to that internal frequency. The one that knows when I’m off. The one that knows when I can push, even if my recovery score is “yellow.” The one that gets clearer when I create space to actually hear it.

One small thing I’ve been doing: I started using the Opal app on my phone. It blocks access to whatever apps I choose during specific times. It adds just enough friction to make me stop and think before I mindlessly open something. It’s not about removing the phone entirely, it’s about catching myself in the act and asking: Why am I opening this? What am I avoiding?

Another experiment I’ve been running: the elevator test. I live on the 17th floor. Every time I ride the elevator, I don’t grab my phone. And I just notice the impulse to check, to scroll, to avoid silence. I pay attention to how uncomfortable that feels. And I watch how everyone around me reaches for their phone the second the doors close. No judgment, just observation. It’s like we’re afraid of stillness now.

But that stillness? That’s where the signal comes back.

It’s not woo-woo. It’s primal. We’re not meant to live fully mediated lives. Look at animals. They don’t have instincts, they are instinct. They feel. They move. They react. They protect. There’s no app telling them how ready they are. They just know.

That’s what I’m trying to re-tether myself to: instinct, intuition, that internal radar. Still using the tools, just not letting them run the show.

So here’s what I’m leaving you with:

• Be okay with being bored.
• Take space from the screens when you can.
• Let yourself feel something before you check the data.
• And if you feel “nothing,” maybe that nothing is trying to tell you something.

You don’t need to throw your WHOOP in the trash or live in the woods. Just don’t forget how to feel.

Until next time,

Much love,

Calvin

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