What if you let your thoughts play out like a podcast episode?

When my AirPods stopped working, I felt frustrated at first. I had been using them constantly for over two years. They were my companions during morning runs, my focus tools during work, and my escape during long commutes. I immediately went online to order a replacement pair.

But then something unexpected happened. The new AirPods were lost in the mail and took three weeks to arrive. I was stuck without them. At first, this felt like a disaster. How would I get through my daily routine? How would I stay entertained during boring tasks?

It turned out to be the best thing that could’ve happened to me. For the first time in a long while, my ears were unplugged from the digital world.

I brushed my teeth without listening to anything but my own thoughts.

I cleaned my apartment without anything to entertain me. Just my thoughts.

I walked to work in complete silence. No podcasts. No audiobooks.

The whole experience felt strange during the first week. I had no idea silence could be so uncomfortable. For years, my brain had been deprived of original thought. Thousands of inputs were streaming in at all hours of the day.

I was addicted to sound. I was listening to other people talk without ever having a chance to respond. The worst part was obvious now. I didn’t even realize it was an addiction.

Those three weeks without AirPods changed everything. I started noticing things I had missed for years. The sound of birds in the morning. The rhythm of my own footsteps. The quality of my own breathing. Most importantly, I started hearing my own thoughts clearly for the first time in years.

Now I’m realizing that:

The most dangerous addictions are the ones that are socially acceptable.

Having earphones plugged into your ears all day long isn’t seen as an addiction. It’s socially acceptable. Everyone does it.

It’s like smoking in the 1950s. People lit up in offices, even on planes. No one thought it was harmful because it was normalized.

Would you listen to your thoughts for an hour?

If my AirPods hadn’t stopped working, I don’t think I would’ve voluntarily gone an hour without listening to anything. Once you’re used to podcasts narrating your commutes at 2X speed, even a minute of silence feels like a waste of time.

Why let time pass in silence when you could be learning a new morning routine from some productivity guru promising to 10X your performance at work?

Oh, you’re having trouble sleeping? Just plug in your earphones. There’s a podcast with bedtime stories to lull you to sleep.

Having trouble getting a girlfriend? There’s literally a podcast called How to Get a Girlfriend.

For most people, listening to their own thoughts for an hour is torture. It was torture for me too. But I had no choice. My earphones weren’t working. In other words, I was forced to listen to my own thoughts.

The insights are already in your thoughts

Let your mind wander. Pay attention to it like you’re listening to a gripping true crime story. You’ll be amazed at what it reveals. Your mind may already have the insights you’re looking for.

It may already hold the answers to your questions. It may have the solutions to your problems. But if you don’t give yourself time to listen, all of it remains hidden.

Activity creates an illusion of control. When you’re cleaning your apartment, you’re in control. When you press play on a podcast, you’re in control. The moment you stop engaging in activity, it feels like you’ve lost control. That’s uncomfortable for most of us.

You need to become comfortable with that feeling. Let your mind take charge. It’s the only way those valuable thoughts can surface. These thoughts get overshadowed by the busyness of everyday life.

Silence can reveal dissatisfaction within yourself. You may realize you’re in the wrong job. Your relationship might not be as fine as you thought. This happens despite the story you’ve been telling yourself.

Remember:

Silence is not dead air. Solitude is not isolation. And boredom is not waste.

Abstain from too much input. Give your mind a break to process what it has learned. That way, you can form your own opinions about the issues that matter.

Don’t overload your mind with information without giving it time to process. Doing so weakens your brain’s ability to create original thoughts. Before you know it, you’re just parroting what you’ve heard. You’re not applying any thought of your own.

Yes I now have new AirPods, but now I’m mindful of the time I spend with them plugged into my ears. I schedule regular “silence breaks” throughout my day. I take walks without any audio input. I do chores in complete quiet.

The broken AirPods taught me something valuable. Sometimes the best technology upgrade is learning when not to use technology at all.