I’m Kayla. I write, I test gear, and I chase a preschooler who thinks socks are optional. Last winter, my brain felt noisy. Pings, pings, more pings. I kept checking three apps to avoid one hard task. You know what? I got tired of my own excuses.
Reading another freelancer’s brutally honest recap of her own monk-mode test nudged me over the edge.
So I started monk mode. Think quiet rules for life and work. Short season. Strong focus. Fewer choices. More doing. It’s like a reset, not a forever thing. My grandma called it “a week of hush” when she quit TV before exams. Same vibe.
That sharper focus echoes findings highlighted by the World Economic Forum showing that brief, intentional bouts of “monk mode” can dramatically lift a knowledge worker’s output.
What Went Great
- Fewer decisions. Same breakfast. Same start time. My brain sighed.
- Real progress. I finished two drafts and a photo set in five days. That used to take eight.
Forbes even profiles executives who report similar leaps in efficiency when they temporarily enter “monk mode,” compressing complex projects into half the usual time. - Better sleep. No late scroll meant easier mornings.
- Mood. Calmer. Not zen master calm, but less snappy, more steady.
During monk mode I muted every social server, including the spicy group chats that used to light up my phone at 2 a.m. If you want to audit your own potential distractions before going dark, consider peeking at a bustling example like the Discord communities dedicated to sexting—seeing how quickly real-time notifications pile up there can help you decide which channels to snooze so your focus experiment actually sticks.
The same self-audit applies to location-based classified sites; a quick look at the adult listings on Backpage Merrillville illustrates just how easy it is to tumble down an intimate-services rabbit hole—visiting the page once lets you determine if it belongs on your “block” list, protecting your limited attention during a monk-mode sprint.