Second No-Tech Sunday: What Changed

Second no-tech Sunday. Different experience than the first.

What Was Different

Last time I reached for my phone four times in the first hour.

This time, twice. Progress. Small, but real.

My kids didn’t complain when we put the tablets away. They just… started playing. Like they remembered from last month that something good usually happens after the devices disappear.

What We Did

Nothing structured. That’s the point.

My daughter made up a dance routine and performed it for an audience of two parents and one distinctly unimpressed brother. She didn’t care. She performed it three times.

Andriel built an elaborate scenario with his action figures that took two hours and involved a storyline I couldn’t fully follow. He narrated it anyway. I listened.

We ate lunch on the back porch. Just because we could.

The Quiet Part

There’s a specific kind of quiet that happens on these Sundays. Not silence—the kids are loud. But a mental quiet that I don’t get any other day.

No background task of monitoring Slack. No half-formed reply composing itself in my head while someone else is talking.

Just the present moment, which is either very ordinary or very obvious depending on how you look at it.

What My Wife Said

She pointed something out that I hadn’t noticed. I ask better questions on these days.

On regular days, I ask “how was school?” On no-tech days, I actually listen to the answer long enough to ask a follow-up.

She’s right. When I’m not managing mental background processes, I have more capacity for actual attention.

The Work Anxiety

It still comes. Less than last time, but it comes.

Sunday at 4 PM: what if there’s a production alert I’m missing? What if something went out in that morning’s deployment?

The honest answer: probably not. And if there is, the team can handle it.

I’m not as indispensable as my anxiety thinks I am. That’s uncomfortable and also liberating.

Making It Monthly, Not Weekly

Some people do this weekly. I respect that. It’s not where I am yet.

Monthly is sustainable. It gives me enough time between Sundays to not feel the friction. And the anticipation of it—knowing this Sunday will be different—is its own kind of thing.

What the Kids Are Learning

Not sure they’re learning anything explicitly. But they’re seeing that Dad puts things down sometimes.

That attention isn’t always split. That some days exist entirely for them.

If they remember anything about growing up, I’d like it to include that.

Next Month

Same deal. Phones in the drawer.

Might try adding a walk somewhere. Something with a destination that requires no planning—a park, a beach, wherever.

The unstructured time is good. A bit of gentle structure might make it last longer.

See you on the other side of it.