¶ Intro / Opening
Welcome to Quick Brain, bite-sized brain hacks for busy people who want to learn faster and achieve more. I'm your coach, Jim Quick. your mind. Let's imagine if we could access 100% of our brain's capacity. I wasn't high, I wasn't wired, just clear. I knew what I needed to do and how to do it. I know Kung Fu. Show me. Welcome back, Quick Brains. I'm your host and your brain coach, Jim Quick. Today's episode...
¶ The Digital Detox Experiment
is something we rarely give our brain, which is like stillness. You know, when we spend time to wonder, to think, to ponder, to just notice things. What if we turn down the volume of life long enough to actually hear ourselves think, you know, again, and maybe even hear something bigger than ourselves? According to a 2023 study, excessive screen time is linked to reduced
cortical thickness and what that means is especially in children's brains and this is the area that's responsible for critical thinking for language and adults aren't immune either Constant digital distraction can lead to mental fatigue, decreased memory recalls, shrinking attention spans. skyrocketing anxiety. There was one MIT study that I was reading that even found that multitasking with your technology can lower your IQ by upwards of 10 points.
which is the same hit as missing a full night's sleep so today i'm very excited to have this conversation with someone who let's say, disconnected to reconnect. And so this will be a fun conversation. It's with Carlos Whitaker. He stepped away from screens for, get this, seven full weeks. living with monks and Amish farmers, to recover something I think we're all at risk of losing, which is our humanity.
Let's explore what happens when you step out of the noise and into what it means to truly be more human again. Welcome to the show, Carlos. Hey, Jim. Thanks for having me, man. I'm so excited to be here. I tell people. you know, all the time that, you know, when you train your brain, that you can really transform your life.
I was wondering, what was the impetus for all this? What was the moment that triggered your decision to do this self-experiment? Was your mind asking for some sort of reset? Where were you? I just got that notification one Sunday that many of us get. It kind of like attacks us on Sunday afternoons where our phone will tell us how many hours a day we have been spending on it.
And one Sunday afternoon, I got it. It scrolled across my screen and it said, you have spent an average of seven hours and 23 minutes a day on your screen. Well, immediately I thought to myself, well, you know what? I mean, listen, that's average. You just said it yourself. That's like an average screen time for an American user. This is what I do full time. It's my job.
But Jim, then what I did was I just felt this unction in my gut to do the math. And that math is what led me to this crazy experiment. The math was... That's 49 hours a week. So two entire cycles of the sun around planet Earth that I am staring at the seven inches of LCD. Then I kept doing the math. That is over 100 days a year.
And then I kept doing the math one more time. I think you and I are probably similar ages. I'm 51 years old. And if I live to be 82 years old, I will spend over 12 years of my remaining life. on my screen and so it was shocking enough to where i said you know what let me look for some research so i looked for the research uh and what what i found was a lot of
¶ Remarkable Brain Healing and New Habits
scientific research that told me that the phone was bad. And I get it. I mean, I think we all get that. But I hadn't found anybody that had actually truly stepped away to see what life was like on the other side of the screen. And so I said, let's do it. I'm going to jump in, go in. So I spent seven and a half weeks. I lived with monks, like you said, Amish farmers, got my brain scan before and after, did cognitive memory tests before and after, and dove fully in.
to what is it like to be human without a screen in 2025? And it was a fabulous, fabulous few months. Why do you think people are intimidated or scared to be alone in silence? You know, there's a quote saying that all of, you know, humans' problems, I'm paraphrasing, stems from our inability to sit alone.
with our own thoughts. Why are we afraid to face silence? Why is it so intimidating? I think it's intimidating because we have... at least the current culture and current society, really around the world, not just in America. Solitude is actually almost extinct, if you think about it. Humans were created with the capacity for a lot of solitude in our lives. And up until really the car radio was put into a vehicle.
If you were traveling from point A to point B, you were forced to sit in silence. You were forced to sit in solitude. And ever since that car radio got put in, we no longer have the ability. to be silent so you know a lot of people go to a red light
Even if it's 30 seconds at a red light, you look over at your phone and you pick it up to see if there's any notifications and you click on a couple things, we can't even sit for 30 seconds anymore. And I think the reason why it's scary is because we just don't do it anymore. have access to it anymore. So what I was able to do was force myself into this lifestyle for a few weeks of silence and solitude. And although it was scary because
When you can't run away from your own thoughts, right? I didn't have TikTok to scroll. I didn't have Jim's podcast to listen to. You're forced to sit with yourself. And I think that's something that humans aren't forced to do anymore. And it's scary. And so I was forced to face some things in my own life that I was like, wow, I can't make my brain leave it by watching cat videos on TikTok. I have to sit with it.
a while. But I think in that sitting with it and in that silence and solitude, there was some major healing that began to happen in my life. You mentioned you had your brain scanned. I believe it was with our mutual friend, Dr. Amen. I also did it before, and then I had treatment for my TBI, and then after, and it was very telling. I was wondering, can you tell us how your brain looked before the experiment and maybe after?
Did you find your cognitive functioning changed any? Yeah, this was probably the most shocking part of it all for me. To be fair, when I went back to Dr. Amen after my seven and a half weeks, right? I had this fear that my brain was going to be worse. Like, you know, I do this entire experiment. I'm like, what if I go in there and everything is worse? But let me tell you what improved. He said that my cerebellar had about...
five years of healing in those seven weeks. He says he's seen a lot of TBIs. He's seen a lot of, and he's like, now, obviously this wasn't a scientific experiment. I was the only lab rat, right? There wasn't, you know, I was the only data point. This was just. Carlos living with monks and living with the Amish. So who knows if this was not looking at a screen.
Who knows if this was praying with the monks every day, six times a day. Who knows if it was working with my hands with the Amish and being as exhausted as I was on that farm every single day. Or what I like to believe is that it was all of it put together. But not only did my brain heal, but this was the kicker for me.
I did about, and you probably did the same thing, about 45 minutes of cognitive testing before I had my brain scanned with Dr. Amen. And so, you know, they were flashing up images on the screen and I'd have to remember the images when they'd flash them back five minutes later.
¶ Wisdom for Connected Living
or numbers, orders. Before I did this experiment, I was in a 50th percentile of memory for men in America. And after the seven and a half weeks of not looking at a screen, I ended up in the 99th percentile of memory for men in America. my jaw dropped. So literally not looking at a screen.
for seven and a half weeks, my memory went to almost the top. And so the proof is in the pudding right there. My screen time has been dramatically changed since I got that result. I'm curious if we could go with Carlos Tactical. Now you're back in the modern world, you know, what's your relationship or how do you manage your, your phone, your notifications, but you know, what's your relationship with your, with your phone, your social media, with AI, how do you maintain?
this post now that you're you know, back in the modern world. In a world where everyone has access to the same information, the same tools, your mind is your only true competitive advantage. But here's the reality. Most of us, we learn what to think. in school you learned a lot of facts and formulas and procedures but nobody taught us how to think that's exactly what quick thinking does
In our flagship program, in just 21 days, three weeks, inside, you'll discover how to think clearly under pressure instead of freezing up. How to accelerate your learning speed so it becomes your real superpower so you can adapt fast. How to absorb and retain more information with less mental energy and effort. If you're ready to unlock your limitless mind, click the link on the screen.
Stop letting unclear thinking hold you back from the life that you're truly capable of creating. I have just... hung on to some of the beautiful things I was reminded that we don't do anymore. And so in my book, Reconnected, I think what people will find is like, wow, I do want to wonder more. So let me give you a couple things that I do like.
One of the first things is I literally, if I ever say I wonder, I sit in wonder for at least 30 minutes. I just let myself wonder. Because remember, wondering isn't saying I wonder. Wondering is what happens after you say I wonder. So just sit with it for 30 minutes. Don't find the answer out.
you know, Claude and ChatGPT, they're waiting for you later. You can use them. I use ChatGPT every single day. It helps me plan a lot of things. I'm not anti-AI. I'm just... hi like i'm the human intelligence guy let's let's like lean into that um also my my it's so important that we do not have our phones in the bedroom so for me that's one of the first things i did when i got back um is
I made sure that my phone is never in the bedroom with me. So now when I, again, when I wake up, my alarm wakes me up. I don't like. touch my alarm face and start rubbing it and it doesn't make me mad. It just wakes me up. And the first hour I'm awake, it is completely screen-free. I just drink my coffee. I did something else that I think was very helpful. for me, and it could be for some of your listeners. I love the news. I love to...
stay up to date what's happening in the world. But I realized that most of my time on my phone was spent on X or on these news apps that I was just consuming news nonstop. So I deleted those apps off my phone. And I subscribe to this really crazy thing that they throw in my front yard every single morning, wrapped in plastic, called a newspaper.
And in the mornings, I read the newspaper just like my dad did back in the 80s. And when I'm done reading the newspaper, it takes me about 30 minutes. I know everything that's happening on planet Earth. If anything else happens that I need to know about, I'll find out. tomorrow. So that's something else that has really given me...
a lot of time back. Something else that I've done is, I think you had a guest on a few weeks ago, as far as from the point of when we're recording this, I was talking about intuition. And that's something that I really reconnected with. with. I've deleted Yelp off my phone. No longer is Bob from Toledo, Ohio, who gave two stars to a Thai restaurant, going to be... the thing that keeps me and my intuition from going to a restaurant that I want to go to. So I deleted Yelp off my phone. Also,
This is something fun that I think some of your listeners should try. I no longer, in two years since this experiment, I have not used Google Maps or Apple Maps to navigate. anywhere in my city. So there's data that shows that London cab drivers, their brains work at a way higher level than Uber drivers do because they have to memorize the city. They have to know where they're going.
And so, you know, most of us will type in, you know, direct, fast directions to Chipotle. We know where Chipotle is. You don't need to put the directions in your phone, but what if we can save us a minute? Maybe that minute of solitude or that minute longer.
without maps telling you what to do is what you need. So I no longer use maps anymore. And then I do want to give one more thing that the Amish really helped me with. We've talked about the monks, but one of the things I learned from the Amish. is that they're not anti-technology. And this is something that I use every day, this kind of nugget from them. Willis, my farmer friend that I lived with as he was teaching me how to shear sheep every day.
I asked him one day, I said, well, Willis, like you've got a flip phone. And I was like, you know, this doesn't make sense. Amish are using flip phones and you're riding e-bikes around like horse and buggies are starting to go away. And he goes. This is the question we ask ourselves whenever we introduce a new piece of technology into our lives.
Carlos, the question we ask ourselves is, is this piece of technology going to bring us closer to our community or going to take us farther apart from our community? So when the e-bikes came along, because there's so many e-bikes in the Amish world now. We realized that a car will never be allowed in the Amish community. Why is that? Because if Miss Betty's barn burns down and I'm in Toledo, Ohio, three hours away.
in my car. I cannot get back to her to help her rebuild her barn. Therefore, we're going to make sure that we only invite technology in that is not going to take us farther away from our community. TVs will totally do that from us. So what I have done, Jim, is I've begun to app... ask myself, not only with technology, but with apps as well. Is this piece of technology or is this app I'm going to install on my phone going to bring me closer to the community that I'm in?
or take me farther away. And that has become such a compass and navigation point for every new piece of technology or application that I install on my screens. And I think that can really help your listeners as well. Before we wrap, I'd like to ask this question. Our podcast at its essence is about accelerated learning and our love of learning. Is there one thing that you are currently excited about, something that you're learning or maybe you're studying that...
that's lighting you up, that you're curious about, that you're wondering outside of what we talked about in this conversation. Is there anything that you're pondering or particularly focused on? No, I actually am. Currently, I'm literally sitting in, so I'm 51 years old, and I feel like I'm of a generation in Gen X that...
I'm not like my parents' generation. YouTube's not scary for me. Digital devices isn't scary for me. And I have hit this phase where a lot of my friends around me are kind of like beginning to clock out and beginning to be like, well, you know, we're... entering into the afternoon of life. And I just have really been leaning into kind of midlife these days. And I've been really leaning into the joys of what midlife is. I'm slowly but surely creating and learning what it means to be half built.
Still with another half to build. And learning about that, learning about more people that are in their 50s, that are doing incredible things, that are starting brand new things, that are doing brand new things. I just released a documentary last year. That was the first time I've ever done anything like that. And now I'm like, sweet, what's the next one I'm going to do? And so I think I'm starting to try to break the myth.
And learning and helping other people break the myth that midlife means that we're on our way down as opposed to midlife means that, no, I still got half of this thing to build. And what does that look like? So lots of research about midlife, lots of research about aging and the beauty of aging.
anti-aging, what it means for all this white to start showing up on my chin and being excited about that. So there's a whole lot of learning that I'm doing about that. And that could possibly maybe be a genre of the next experiment that I lean into. I can't wait to hear what that's about. Being in my 50s also, I'm very excited about that and really feel like we're still getting started with the life we live or the lessons we teach. And I love how you're experimenting with yourself.
How can people find out more? I want to remind everybody to go to the show notes after this at jimquick.com. We'll put links to your amazing book, Reconnected, to your social media. uh to your documentary on where but where can people i'm sure they want to get the book
Where else can they connect with you or go deeper with your work and research? You know, obviously the book is everywhere. There is a documentary that goes alongside with the book. I didn't take a screen with me, but I took a tiny little Sony camera with me.
on these seven and a half weeks. And I set it up every night and cried and panicked in front of it. And so there's a good documentary. It's on my website, carloswhittaker.com. And then also one of the things I love, and I'd love to share with...
friends of mine that I'm on their podcast is one of the ways I love to share is to show up live to people's events. I speak to a lot of corporate clients. I speak to a lot of events and nonprofits, just helping people rediscover the lost art of being human. And I think in this world of AI, And I think in this world of how quickly things are progressing, there's a beauty to...
you know, who you are, whether you're a high capacity leader, reconnecting with your humanity. And I love to come in and speak to organizations about that as well. So yeah. And then Instagram is kind of where I live and where I play every day. You know, show pictures of my dogs and cats and chickens. and ducks and stuff. I love that. I would actually challenge everybody to take a screenshot wherever you're consuming this and tag Carlos
tag myself so we get to see it. I got multiple copies of your book, so I'll actually gift out a couple randomly. But I would love people's posts. to share one thing they either learned or one thing they're going to do moving forward to be able to maybe to benefit from everything they learned in this conversation. And so Carlos, I want to thank you so much.
much i look forward to having you back on the show amazing and uh you know where our paths happen to meet i want to remind everyone listening that if this episode uh lit something up inside of you then take a moment offline actually i normally say do it online but take a minute offline to reflect on what you just heard you know to to to lean into the the wonder the intuition the the noticing
It's a win. W-I-N. Wonder, intuition, noticing. I even do it unconscious just to help people just kind of code it. But do that. Maybe even share it. offline through connecting with someone face-to-face. Share what you just learned.
And if you want to go deeper in this, make sure you join our YouTube channel where we put the extended version. If you're listening to this on audio, we cap it at 20 minutes. This conversation was longer than that. We put the extended version on YouTube. You can join 1.8 million subscribers there. see the whole conversation, which I know you're going to love. Make sure you subscribe. It's the biggest compliment.
Put in the comments your ahas or your questions. I read every single one of them. And until next time, this is your brain coach, Jim Quick. And until our next episode, everyone be limitless.