Unplugging · A better night’s sleep, multitasking myths, and a quiet evening

The Weekly Reset

This week, here’s a simple exercise to help you unwind before bed and sleep better.

The Evening Phone Box:

• About an hour before you plan to go to sleep, put your phone out of sight. Not on your bedside table, not within reach — ideally in another room, or at least in a drawer or a box.

• Set an alarm if you need to. Then leave it there.

• Spend the rest of the evening without it — no scrolling, no checking notifications.

You can use the time however you like:
Read a book. Stretch. Make a cup of tea. Write a few lines in a notebook. Or simply sit and let the day fade out.

You don’t have to do it every night. Just try it once or twice this week and notice how it feels to go to bed without that last hit of blue light and endless scrolling.

Let me know how it goes — I’d love to hear if it changes how you sleep or how you feel in the morning.

Signal vs. Noise

This week, I read an old but still wildly relevant article from the American Psychological Association about multitasking — and it made a lot of sense to me:

👉 “Multitasking: Switching costs” – APA

It breaks down something we’ve all felt but rarely stop to examine — the lie that we can actually do multiple things at once. According to research, multitasking can reduce productivity by up to 40%, and what we’re really doing is rapid task-switching. Our brains are not wired to handle it efficiently.

What stood out most:

• Task-switching takes time. Every time we jump from one thing to another, there’s a “lag” — a mental cost — that stacks up.

• More effort, worse results. Multitasking doesn’t just slow us down. It makes our work sloppier and our memory foggier.

• It’s addictive. Jumping between things gives us a false sense of progress. We feel busy, but we don’t actually accomplish anything.

And the worst part? We rarely feel the damage in the moment. It accumulates silently, draining attention, creating stress, and leaving us wondering why our minds feel scattered.

So what’s the takeaway?

Single-tasking is not a limitation — it’s a form of self-respect.
And choosing to do one thing at a time might be one of the kindest things we can do for our minds.

A Moment Offline

The other night, I turned off the TV, put my phone in another room, and just… sat.

No music. No book. Just the low hum of the fridge, the occasional car passing outside, and Cata — my doggy — curled up beside me on the sofa.

At first, it was uncomfortable. My mind wanted to reach for something, anything. But after a few minutes, it settled.

I noticed the weight of the day lifting. I noticed how quiet feels different at home when you let it happen.

It didn’t change my life. But it softened the edges of that evening — and that was enough.

Maybe tonight, try it yourself. Ten minutes. Sit still. No agenda. Let the quiet fill in the space we usually drown out.

See you next week,
Miguel

P.S. I’ve been working on some simple resources to support you on your digital detox — including guides, checklists, and printables. I’ll start sharing them very soon. 💙

If you’ve enjoyed this issue and want to support my work, you can buy me a coffee here — thank you! ☕