So, I heard this thing the other day, someone mentioned “Jared Goff retired.” And honestly, my first thought was, wait, what? Goff, the Lions quarterback? Seemed a bit out of left field, you know? These quarterbacks, they usually try to play till their arm falls off. It got me thinking, not so much about Goff himself – I mean, the guy’s got a career, he’s from California, all that good stuff – but more about how news, or even just talk, flies around.
It really reminded me of this whole process I went through myself, a sort of “retirement” if you want to call it that. Not from my job, heavens no, still gotta pay the bills. But I decided to retire from something else that was eating up my time and, frankly, my sanity. I retired from being constantly, overwhelmingly, plugged in.
My Big “Digital Detox” Project
Here’s how it all went down, my little practice in reclaiming my brain space:
First off, I had to admit I had a problem. I was checking my phone like it held the secrets to the universe. Every notification, every little ding, I was on it. Sports scores, news headlines, what someone I barely knew had for breakfast. It was too much. You hear about a player getting a knock, like Goff did in that Commanders game with Luvu, and suddenly there are a million opinions and updates. It’s exhausting.
So, I started my “retirement” plan. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you.
- Step one: I went into my phone settings and just massacred my notifications. Only the absolute essentials got to stay. My phone felt eerily quiet for a few days. I kept picking it up expecting something, then remembering. Felt like I’d lost a finger or something.
- Step two: I brought back “no-phone zones.” Remember those? Dinner table, first hour I’m awake. Actually talking to my family during meals, imagine that! The first few days were twitchy. I’d reach for my pocket, then stop.
- Step three: This was the big one. I looked at my social media apps. Which ones were just making me feel… meh? Or angry? A couple of them got the axe. Deleted. Gone. It felt surprisingly good, like finally throwing out that pair of shoes you never wear but keep “just in case.”
- Step four, and this was a biggie for my sanity: I officially “retired” from arguing with strangers in comment sections. Man, oh man. The hours I got back! It’s like, why was I even doing that? Nobody ever changes their mind, and I just ended up with a headache.
The whole thing took a few weeks to really settle in. There were moments I’d slip, old habits die hard, you know? But I kept at it.
And the result? Well, it’s been pretty good, actually. I found I had more time for, well, living. I started reading books again, actual paper books. Went for walks without feeling the need to document every leaf. I still keep up with things, like football – go Lions! – but it’s on my terms. I’ll catch the highlights, read an article when I feel like it. If Goff really had retired, I’d find out eventually, and the world wouldn’t have ended because I wasn’t the first to know.
So yeah, that whole “Jared Goff retired” piece of news, true or not by the time anyone reads this, just kind of kicked off that memory for me. It’s a good reminder that sometimes, stepping back, “retiring” from the noise, is a pretty smart play. You get to focus on your own game, so to speak. Anyway, that was my little journey. Still a work in progress, always is, right?