Small Ball Snapshot - Unplugged
I work a lot. I love to work. And like a lot of people reading this, I tend to go full speed ahead.
I don’t sit still very well. Slowing down has never come naturally. Motion has always felt productive, even comforting. Over time, that pace can quietly turn into a habit you don’t question.
So when we decided to spend the entire month of December living on the beach in Florida, I knew it had to be more than a change of scenery. Before we even left, I had a sense that without intention, I’d carry the same noise with me. Different location. Same habits.
I wanted to come home knowing I had actually been there. Present. Aware. Fully in the moments instead of watching them pass.
I did minimal work, but more importantly, I paid attention.
Part of that intention was an experiment I decided on early. I didn’t want my phone quietly dictating the rhythm of my days, so I treated myself like a kid. I had my wife put a Screen Time password on my social media apps and email, locking me out from 9:00 a.m. until sunset every day.
That space mattered. I made sure I heard the waves crashing into the shore, watched the sun set every single night, and let the moments in between stay open instead of filling them.
What I hoped would happen did. I slowed down and started noticing things I usually rush past, without feeling the need to fill every quiet moment.
Those five-to-ten seconds we all seem desperate to fill, standing in a grocery store line or stopped at a red light, were suddenly quiet. No quick glance at Instagram. No reflexive scroll through LinkedIn. Just stillness. And it turns out, stillness isn’t uncomfortable when you stop fighting it.
I still enjoy some mindless scrolling. That didn’t change. What changed was how often I reached for it. Instead of all day, whenever there was space, I gave it boundaries. Early morning. Evening. That was it.
At one point, I overheard my wife telling her mom on the phone that she hadn’t seen me this relaxed in years. She was putting words to what I was already feeling.
When we came home to Kansas City, we removed the Screen Time restrictions. What stayed with me was the habit shift. I reached for those apps less and used them more intentionally, not just to fill perceived boredom. And I realized something simple but important: if someone truly needs me, they’ll find me. The world keeps spinning just fine.
It wasn’t a full detox. It was a healthy diet.
That’s the Small Ball lesson.
Presence isn’t created by grand gestures. It’s built through small, intentional choices. Quiet boundaries. Subtle shifts in rhythm.
None of it loud. None of it public. All of it necessary.
That’s Small Ball.
Question: What small, intentional boundary could help you be more present in the moments you usually rush through?