disconnected.

THE WATER METHOD TO WELLNESS

Splash of the Week

disconneced.

This weekend, my average phone screen time dropped from 4 hours 32 minutes to 36 minutes.

How? I turned my phone off. Simple as that. Summer is ending and I was getting stressed and worried about the ongoing longlist of tasks I needed to finish… You know the feeling.

I used a physical card to pay. I used my memory of the local geography to get around. And for a few hours a day, I worked on my laptop, where I could login and google everything if I needed to, but I didn’t. Productivity soared. So did my happiness.

I only turned my phone on twice: once in the morning for learning apps (couldn’t risk the streak), and once after 5pm to check messages.

There’s a quote I once came across that often lingers with me:

I wish. It doesn’t work every day, but without a phone, the quality of rest and work went through the roof. And I still had plenty of screentime on my laptop.

Outdoors early morning. 4 hrs of focused work. Lot’s of time for play. Unwind #techfree. In bed by sunset. No fatigue. No anxiety. Happiness amplified.

How much willpower will it take to do this more often?

I recently read The One Thing, which says willpower is usually highest in the morning, then every choice, encountered emotion, and tasks drain it. By evening, if you do not replenish throughout, slips happen: unhealthy food, mindless scrolling, a snappy attitude. Apparently, willpower is something we need to replenish frequently.

I keep saying hydration isn’t about how much water we drink, but how deeply we connect. 

It’s a mindset, an attitude.

My water wellness habits refill my willpower.

It’s about happy, healthy, hydrated cells that vibrate at the highest possible frequency.

And the day flows.

When I don’t live my days according to the water wellness philosophy, life quickly becomes less fun.

Another point that Gary Keller makes in his book, is that work-life balance is a lie. And I do agree. You choose your rituals, habits, attitude and how you go about your day.

He argues that true productivity comes from focusing on and achieving your single most important goal at any given time.

Our problem is, that we have unlearned how to prioritise one thing above all else and celebrate the focused effort that creates a domino effect of success, rather than giving into every distraction that comes along.

Lately, many people have told me how fatigued they feel, struggling to find motivation or the energy to do things. Not just busy professionals, but wellness friends and even PhD colleagues. It’s everywhere. The era of fatigue.

We try to stay connected to everything, but lose connection with ourselves and the task in front of us.

This fatigue is what I call dehydrated mindsets. Disconnected from what makes your cells thrive and your days feel more like play.

What we are facing is an emerging great divide: do we want to be more connected, or more connected?

McKinsey’s 2025 Future of Wellness Trends report indicates that consumers are increasingly prioritising wellness travel that provides tangible benefits for mental wellbeing. Recommendations for brands include to “provide personalised, technologically enhanced, and nature-focused experiences.”

How do we get the most out of tech and nature at the same time?

Travel and wellness hospitality is moving in two directions: some offering phone-free retreats (BBC), shielding EMF, and offering regenerative farm stays as the latest wellness trend (Vogue), others promising perfect connectivity (Smart Buildings Magazine) and tech-enabled biohacking for longevity. Fibre-to-the-room, miles of hidden cable, seamless signals, without interrupting the aesthetic. All to make sure no guest ever feels the buffer-wheel of disconnection.

What to do?

• Personal agency → You choose when to disconnect, when to be online, and how much of yourself to give.

• Mindful choices → The world offers both: phone-free moments and endless Wi-Fi. Technologically enhanced wellness and nature-focused experiences. What matters is how you relate to them.

• Your “connection” → It’s not just WiFi or screen time. It’s also rest, focus, relationships, and inner clarity. Being “connected” means deeply present with yourself and your cellular health.

Technology connects us to the world. Rituals connect us back to ourselves.

— Clouds

P.S. If you enjoyed this post, hit reply and let me know!

The Essentials

YOUR HYDRATION EDIT

Each edition, we handpick stories, trends, and insights. From the source of your water to how you move, restore, and live around it—plus the latest in wellness real estate, the fastest-growing sector in the wellness world.

☁ Visionary Voices

Relational.

Do we live in a transactional world, or a relational one?

New Materialism rejects the dichotomy of nature and society.

How we relate to water is how we relate to ourselves.

My research is about how we treat water.

But it’s really about how we treat ourselves.

We used to think clean water came in a bottle.

But it starts with your mindset and what you choose to wash & flush at home.

#lesssoapmorebalance #washandflush #selfcareiswatercare

FOLLOW FOR MORE DAILY INSIGHTS →

The Playbook Edit 

WAIORA RITUALS

Nervous System First.

Feeling good is information.

Your nervous system is wiser than any algorithm.

Your body knows when it’s time to step away, and when it’s time to plug back in. Tiny rituals ease the chaos and replenish willpower. Technology connects us to the world. Rituals connect us back to ourselves.

Align your rituals.

Notes from the Meadow

Until next time! ☁