Welcome to Tech Talk. Bye. CT. Tea.

Yeah. Well, you know, my background is that I founded the Webby Awards. So I'm obviously, I love technology. I spent my career thinking about all the incredible ways that can connect people and ideas for good. But I never really imagined that we would land in this place where I feel like we are today, where you walk around and everyone is looking down and everyone's distracted and so stressed out from being, on twenty four seven. So, you can imagine over twenty years ago, I'm like, the web, it's gonna change everything. It's amazing. And then

It did. And then the iPhone came out in 2007, and I think that was really the moment where it changed way too much for me, where suddenly that web was in your pocket and pulling you out of any moment. So I was just starting to feel so distracted and then I wasn't really present for anything. I was just constantly after a couple years in of that addiction and not feeling, my father who I was incredibly close to was diagnosed, with brain cancer and given nine months to live, and it was the same week. I found out that my daughter, I was pregnant and Wow. I just spent those nine months really thinking about time and life and meaning. And whenever I go visit my dad, I would, of course, turn off my phone because my family had, like, a good one hour, and I just wanted to protect. That was the feeling how to protect our time and space around us so I could be present for him. And then, he he did pass away, and then our my husband and my daughter was born a couple days later. And, and we were invited to participate in something called National Day of Unplugging. And I should say that I'm Jewish, but I'm not I'm not a religious Jew. I'm a cultural Jew. Okay. So the only people I really knew that did Shabbat were Orthodox Jews that did a full day of Shabbat. Like most Jews that I know, if they did Shabbat at all, it was like a nice dinner or Shabbat dinner. But and if people don't know what Shabbat, what is it? Oh, okay. Yeah. Thank you. So Shabbat, it's also called the Sabbath and most religions have some form of it, where it's a full day off. So if you're in, you know, an Orthodox Jew, you don't drive, you don't drive, you don't write, you don't you don't you have a lovely meal on Friday night and say blessings, I need you nothing to rest. And, Christians also, they call it the Sabbath. Yeah. And actually, there's there's some people that say even the Puritans came to America to found America because they couldn't do a pure enough Sabbath in Europe, and they were looking for a way to have a more strict Sabbath. So it's really a big part of the founding of our country, but then of course the separation of church and state and all that. But anyways, so I kind of came into not ever practicing Shabbat or the Sabbath growing up, and then, my husband had done some light form of it. And then we got invited to turn off screens for one day in the ceremonial national day of unplugging. And that was ten years ago, and it was right after my dad had passed away. And I had this new life in my life with our daughter, and, we never stopped doing it. It was like the best day. I I think we just don't realize how much that phone is manipulating our every move and stressing us out a lot of the time and never letting us really be in the moment. So, you know, it's basically, Friday night, we do have a Shabbat meal. We have friends and family over. It's a very social night. Friday night, all screens are off, which is an amazing experience to have people All screens, not just not just phones. Everything that possibly has a screen. Do you even shut off? I don't know if you have, like, an Alexa in your house. You shut that down too? We tell it's interesting. I talk about that in the book. The Alexa to me, like, we cook a lot on Saturdays, and I use it for a timer Okay. Or to play music. We also have a record player that we play vinyl on, which has been really fun to reintroduce into my life. But Yeah. It's just about the screen. It's about the screen that's gonna take you away from take you down the rabbit hole as we all know. So, you know, doing something for ten years and the longer we've done it, this practice which has been so transformative for my family. Now our our oldest daughter is a teenager and our youngest is 10. And it's just there's so many benefits, and they continue to reveal themselves the longer we do it. I mean, I feel more productive. I feel more the other six days more creative. I sleep better on that night. I Wow. The day feels extra long. I get to reflect. I do all my deep reading, like, during the week, like, I think everyone's, like, skimming, skimming. And anything that I know, I'm like, I wanna really read this deeply. I print it out or it's a magazine article or a book, and I put it on the table for my tech Shabbat. That's what we call them. And, so the longer we did this practice and the more kind of crazy I felt like our society was becoming with this addiction and distraction, I was like, I have to share this. And, I think, you know, every there's not one person I talk to doesn't feel this sense of addiction and distraction. And this is a practice that is thousands of years old, kind of updated from the modern era. And I want to make, you know and I have a lot in the book, I go into a lot of the neuroscience and social science philosophy behind a lot of these ideas and days of rest in all cultures and who's still doing them and why they mostly went away in our twenty four seven society. Yeah. And we're we're living in the results of that. So Absolutely. It's both kind of big big picture and then very practical. How do you do it? How do you convince your partner or your kids?

Yeah. I mean, it it's, it's incredible. And most people can't believe that we have a teenager who loves it. It's our family, you know, favorite day of the week because, you know, kids are pretty stunned. They have just so much homework. My my daughter's a junior in high school, so they're like, you know, five, six hours of homework a day. And

Yeah. That was not my high school experience, but okay. Well, I know it's very different now, but also it's different because, of course, they're they have the computer and the phone and there's so much multitasking going on. Well, I'm sure it it lasts longer because of that. Right. But, you know, I think she will comment on we all kind of comment on how great it is because it's it's still surprise us that this deep end is still so great. But it's just saying so that I have a day off of homework or being on. And, and and then we're all psyched to go back on Saturday night. So it has this dual effect where you kind of reappreciate all that you can do on technology. So every week, I kind of rush towards turning it all off and having this protected, day of reflection, family, connection, sleep, rest, doing hobbies I love. And then I also get to reappreciate all the amazing things on the web. So it has this kind of dual effect that lasts throughout the week. It helps me be, more intentional around my screen use the other six days. And there are definitely still times. I'm just feeling so addicted. Like, I mean, like, Tiffany, get off the phone. And then I know that was what will slow down that feeling is to turn it off. That's great.

space. Yeah. I just, it gives me space to think. I think we don't realize when, you know, you have this device that is influencing what you think about because you have so much coming at you and what you're responding to, so you're constantly being interrupted. You know, one of the most interesting pieces of research when I was working on the book was that when someone texts you or you get a notification, it takes twenty three minutes to get back into flow. And I was like, oh my gosh. We're all just being constantly pulled out of flow. And I always try to get to the flow state, so why am I doing something that's gonna take me out of that? So I'm much more mindful about texting people. I have all notifications off on my phone, and I only have, like, a small number of people that can, you know, when my phone notifies me that they've called or texted, but mostly it's like I go to my phone instead of my phone making me respond to it. So that benefit of just thinking deeply and in an uninterrupted way is delicious. I also sleep so much. My whole family will say this so much better. They sleep on Friday night because, you know, there's nothing there's nothing that is gonna wake you up from that phone Yeah. Or just it just gives you, like, this really deep sense of relaxation. We laugh a lot more on Saturdays. We're just kinda more present with each other. And then I think just as somebody who runs a film studio in San Francisco, I can really see the benefit. It has rippled out to my whole company because, you know, when I'm doing it, they they know that they don't have to respond on the weekends, and it's had this wonderful benefit. I think we need more boundaries, with work and leisure, and there's just too much expectation that we're responding all the time. So that's been a great benefit, and I feel probably the most creative of the week on Sunday mornings after I've had to day off. Wow. That's great. You know, I'm a filmmaker, so anything that's, like, fueling the creativity is a good thing.

I just you know, it's an amazing thing to be looking down all the time. That that's always kind of the most haunting image for me as I walk down the street is that I'm looking down and not up. So I think the biggest thing is you're not looking down. Think about what happens when you look down. Not only you're crouching your body, but you're not looking at what's around you. And everyone's so sucked in and looking down that you're not seeing the bigger picture. So and appreciating nature more. I mean, I I had this stat that, kids are 50% less outdoors today.

So much research on how nature and all the benefits of, you know, walking through a city park or going for a hike or just being outside, and it's just happening less than us. I mean, I should also really mention that, of course, it's I know it's a luxury that we've hit we're able to take a day off and some people have two jobs, and that's very real. I would just say in that case that whatever time you do have off to try to make it without screens, like, carve some time where you're released from that pressure, which I think people are so used to now. They don't even realize how great it'll feel. I think people have a lot of fear around unplugging, but if you just reframe it, it's not what's being taken away. It's what you get back. And a lot of people say, how am I gonna convince my kids or my partner? And the thing I usually land on is ask each person in your life that you wanna do it with you. And if you don't have kids, your partner, or even yourself, what do you wish you had more time to do? Everyone's got that list, whether it's picking up an instrument, painting, hiking, learning how to surf. What what's what's your list? And then fill the day with that and put that phone in a drawer. Get a landline. You have to get a landline, but I think that's good regardless. I live in in earthquake country, so it's good for emergencies and for funding and for finding your cell phone when you visit. But we have a landline. And just trust that the universe will be able to get in touch with you if it's important and that you need to,

I mean, it's so funny. Like, sometimes I know that that's the big thing for people. Like, I and I think, gosh, it's just just for one day. I think of that you know the David Bowie song? We could be heroes. Oh, yes. We're just talking one day. Just one day. It's not that I mean, out of the whole week, it's just one seventh of your week. I mean, that's a lot. I don't know. That seems like a lot. For me, it does. Funny to me, but I guess I guess the thing is is that, you know, we're doing all these, many, I at my nonprofit film studio, we do these, global days of discussion. And the one we have is called character day, and we're looking at your relationship between your character and screen use, and when does it amplify and diminish. And we're doing all these kind of mini challenges. We're walking people to lead up to a tetra bot. We have three weeks of mini challenges. Like, try to wake up and not look at your phone. Do something else and try to go walk without your phone for thirty minutes or, like, to build that muscle to build up to taking a full day off. But to be honest with you, I feel like those mini challenges are somewhat harder because it's so much more squishy because your phone is it's your alarm clock. It's your calendar. It's your phone. It's your computer. It's so many things. It's hard to set those boundaries, which is why so many things. It's hard to set those boundaries, which is why I think creating a clear boundary of a whole day off is actually incredibly liberating. And you have to do a couple you have to do some planning. I mean, it's very simple, but if you have plans on Saturday, just make them on Friday afternoon. Yep. Have people come over. You can't text someone really. No last minute texting if they forgot the, you know, the wine or whatnot. So something it's like you actually stick to your plan a lot more. You don't realize that it's just the looseness of the phone. So, I would just say instead of looking at it as something that's taken away from you, just think about it as something you're getting back. It's and I promise you that's what it feels like when you really commit to trying it. And we're having people try it for four weeks in a row. So, if you go to our website, we'll kind of walk you through because it's all about building a habit and a practice. And, we've made a lot of films about, you know, the neuroscience and social sciences character development, which is about practice and habits. And and so we're gonna kind of walk people through how to build this as a practice. Because a lot of people say to me, oh, I I take vacation once a year, and I'm I'm away from my phone. But I think, and it's wonderful to go on vacation. And, you know, in a place where there's no wifi or without your know, in a place where there's no wifi or without your phone. But to me, the real benefit of what we're talking about is this weekly practice that's, like, built into your life. So every week, no matter how stressed you are, you're like, oh, I know I have that day that's gonna feel different. When I've read more closely about the wisdom of Shabbat, it's that it's this day unlike all others. And that it really it it creates a framework for your week that is really beautiful to have this one special day. And I would love for people to think of it like yoga and meditation where it can really bring more balance and meaning and purpose in your life when you have, like, a day away from it all to reflect and respond better and feel more connected to the people you love around you and just feel more connected to yourself, really. That's great. What we don't realize with that device is we're just responding to a lot of other things besides ourselves.

It's kind of part of my journey because, you know, it wasn't like I was a big baker. I mean, I'm a working mom who's got time for that. But when we started this regular Sabahat dinners on Friday morning, I meet the girls, bake, you know, I I get the dough ready and it rises all day, and that is extremely meditative and relaxing thing to do each week. And so to me, waiting for bread to rise I mean, it's very similar to the whole you know, it's what Shabbat's about. It's about rethinking about time and letting something rise all day. I mean, who does that anymore? So I put the recipe in because, first of all, my challah was very bad at the beginning. And, and it's kind of bringing back some things I think we've forgotten with all the modern conveniences that it's it's great pleasure in making bread. There's great pleasure in having people over every week, without their phones. And there's great pleasure in just,

you can buy it in all the various ways, indie bookstores, Amazon link, all that. And you can also find out about these, weekly challenges which are free, and we have all these cool resources. And we'll hold your hand through it if you wanna try it and have a lot of tips on how to bring this into your life. That is. Yeah. I'd love to

Thanks for having me. And I I wanna hear how the hallow turns out and how your tech chatbot turns out. Absolutely. And I wanna come over for dinner sometime. So Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Thanks, Tiffany. Okay. Have a great day.