Why I watch sunset everyday — Tip #30

Relax your eyes and re-center yourself 😌

Most of my day is spent staring at a screen. Despite an ergonomic setup following all best practices, our biology is not meant for this, so eventually I do pay a price: dry eyes, mental fatigue, tiredness, etc. 😵‍💫

Over the years I introduced a few things I do throughout my day to help me cope with this: from blinking more frequently (we subconsciously blink less as we stare at a screen) to focusing far away for a minute every 20 minutes. All this helped, but it’s very nerdy and you need to “exercise” this self-control until it becomes second nature and unfortunately that takes time and practice, which I understand most people are not willing to put up with.

Let me give you something more practical. Long ago I decided to take a daily 15-minute break to watch the sunset. My brain tried to convince me that 15 minutes of nothingness every day would cause my business to fail: since that was a ridiculous argument, please don’t come up with similar excuses 🫵. By the way, the Dutch even gave a name to this, it’s called Niksen.

I did this in several of the cities I have visited over the last decade and there is something about watching that show that not only rests your eyes but also makes you feel “alive”. What I am trying to say is well encapsulated in the Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar D. Friedrich, part of the Romantic movement of the 1800s.

If you don’t feel anything while looking at this, I can’t help you 🙏

Especially if you live in a city, having the opportunity to reconnect with the world outside even for a brief moment can do wonders. We weren’t meant to be enclosed in a shoebox from morning until night, from work to Netflix and chill.

Here are a few sunsets I witnessed during my break (no filters and I am a bad photographer!). Your tip awaits after this magic journey 👇

Tangier, Morocco 🇲🇦

Bangkok, Thailand 🇹🇭

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 🇻🇳

Rome, Italy ❤️

Dubai, UAE 🇦🇪

Your weekly tip: If you spend most of your day starting at a screen (monitor, TV, mobile), create a 15-minute break for yourself with no screens in sight. Just you and the world around you. My pick: witnessing the spectacle of a sunset.

Don’t forget to share this tip with a friend who may need to lower their screen time 🫰

See you next week, until then…

Don’t Panic 😱