Silencing the Noise: Lessons from a Reading Deprivation Week

*My black cat Papaya not-so-silently judging me for sitting in her spot and reading*

Imagine the scene in which an avid reader is confronted with the concept of a reading deprivation. When I first read about this concept, I mentally gasped and shook my head. I promptly moved on, humming merrily to myself in an attempt to forget about what I had just read.

As I went about my day though, I noticed how many words and visuals I took in from other people. I thought to myself…

What was that doing to my creativity?

Was my style my style or was it a style that society deemed “good”?

I had thoughts about it all while I reconsidered whether a reading deprivation week could help me. Also, I recognized that I spent too much time each day watching TV or reading on social media.

In the end, I decided that a reading deprivation might be a great way to begin habits I wanted and get rid of habits I didn’t.

And I wasn’t wrong, but I was surprised by what I learned about myself.

What is a reading deprivation week and how did I fit it into my life?

A reading deprivation week is one small part of the wonderful program that is The Artists’ Way by Julia Cameron (more on that in a moment).

A reading deprivation means no intake of social media, TV, or reading (no books, articles, news). I made an exception for work emails because my business couldn’t suffer, but otherwise, I didn’t read any articles, watch any shows or YouTube videos, and avoided social media.

The goal of the reading deprivation was to clear my mind of outside creative influences and get in touch with my creativity in an uncluttered mental space.

What is The Artists’ Way?

The Artist’s Way is a book with a 12-week program that helps artists get unstuck and focus their creative energy. I started it in January and am currently on the last week. Since starting, I’ve gotten so much from the program.

As someone who uses her creativity and storytelling skills every day, this program guided me to thinking through my creativity and my process. It also reminded me to stay playful and interactive with my creative time. I remembered over time that not all creativity has to be for a purpose or a productive aim. It can (and should) be fun!

The program involves journaling each morning with exercises to consider throughout the book and weekly artist dates. It requires a time commitment (7-10 hours per week), but I’ve found that the work you put into it is lifegiving. It doesn’t feel like wasted time.

If you fully dive in, you will get in touch with creative sources that you might have neglected or ignored for far too long.

What I worried about before I started the reading deprivation

The author acknowledged that the week off reading is hard, but that it will be immensely beneficial. She’s been teaching and writing for 25+ years so she really knows her stuff.

*Let me tell you - my face did not look as cute when I was bored. Image via* *Unsplash*

Still I had these worries before going into the reading deprivation:

Reading before bedtime is my stress release from the day - would I sleep well without it?
Would no TV and social media cause me to ruminate and spiral in my thoughts?
Would I be bored and annoyed all the time?
How would I pass the time?

Regardless of these worries, I dove in. Let’s talk about the good, the bad, and my final thoughts about it!

The Hard Parts

I won’t lie and say it was all sunshine and rainbows.

The boredom was real.

I was worried that I would go limp with boredom before I started. I was super bored during the first day, but that also was the point.

You have to allow boredom in your life to open up your mind to other creative avenues.

After I got over the initial boredom, I quickly found ways to fill my time and I got a lot done! I did puzzles. I baked and cooked lots of yummy food. I took the dog on plenty of walks. I discovered new games to play with my daughter. I finished craft projects that had been sitting around, discarded for a long time. I cleaned and organized my studio. I reconnected with friends I hadn’t talked to in a while. I responded to texts really quickly. 😂 I picked up new artistic hobbies like acrylic ink painting.

Some of the things I did while on the reading deprivation: finished mending pants, worked on a puzzle with my cat supervisor, made bread and desserts, went to art shows, and walked my dog… a lot!

I missed reading.

I read a lot in a typical week. Reading helps me get to sleep so I didn't sleep as well during that week as I normally do. However, I did find other ways that help me get to sleep (e.g. pre-bedtime yoga or stretching, sleep sounds).

I craved social media and news… until I just didn’t.

It was annoying to know that I could theoretically access my social media feeds on my phone, but that I wasn’t going to do it. I took my social media apps off my home screen on my phone so I wasn’t tempted.

At the start, I would just want to veg in front of the TV when I was tired. But eventually I discovered better ways to fill my time (I mentioned some above, but my favorite part of the whole week is coming up!). Also, I realized that I had a lot more energy to do creative things.

The Great Parts

I gained a deeper connection with my family.

We already spend a lot of time together. But what I found during this week was that my husband and I got even closer.

Every night, he and I talked for 30-45 minutes, uninterrupted, instead of watching TV together. So rather than trying to talk about household stuff while we were with our daughter, we compartmentalized our lives. We focused on her when she was around and took care of the household management stuff and bigger concerns when it was just the two of us.

What did we talk about every night? We talked about our day, decompressed, processed stuff that we were going through, laughed, joked, reminisced, made plans for the future, and talked about finances. It built up an even greater connection between us than we had before.

I could tell that my bond with my daughter was also strengthened. We had new inside jokes and more fun together because I wasn’t so rushed.

A break from social media was worth it.

I don’t think anyone missed my contributions on social media and I didn’t miss anything (besides a few really amazing memes and animal videos which I saw when I returned).

What I realized was how annoyed and disagreeable I was when I lingered on social media for too long. I’d get annoyed by simple things interrupting me while on my phone. However, I didn’t realize that I was missing life while I scrolled.

The week felt lighter and more relaxing.

This one is harder to pin down, but I just felt better all week - lighter, more focused, and more relaxed.

I had more fun. At least a lot more fun than I was expecting. My expectations were not high going into the week, but I came out of it with much greater appreciation for the small things in life.

I broke some not-so-great habits.

Some of these bad habits were watching too much TV, scrolling through social media, and reading articles that don’t add anything to my life.

I mean, I knew these were things that I shouldn’t do too much, but they really suck you in. TV and social media have been created to be fun and addictive, after all!

It’s been more than a month and I still don’t watch TV on weekdays. I have limited my social media scrolling to 20 minutes a day for each platform, too.

There are days where I have to go over that limit to create content, but the digital wellbeing app (most phones have one already installed) will ask me to make a conscious choice about extending that time. It’s not a choice I take lightly.

If nothing else, I highly recommend checking out the digital wellbeing or screen time apps on your phone and try setting timers for yourself on social media.

Here’s more info about those apps on Android and iOS devices. Your mental health will thank you!

*Here Papaya is about to get moved off my yoga mat - don’t feel too bad about it though. She always gets her revenge later with an early wakeup!*

Would I do the reading deprivation again?

Absolutely!

I might make an exception to allow reading a book before bedtime for sleep purposes though. The changes that I’ve made have stuck and helped me live a more wholehearted, creatively focused life.