In December we had unplanned power cuts.

Two days, back to back. Seven hours each.

No internet. No heating. Candles by mid-afternoon.

Here’s what surprised me: it was fine. Better than fine, actually.

Conversations were better. Silence didn’t need filling. We were just… present. Not because we’d decided to be, but because the alternative wasn’t there.

And that’s the uncomfortable bit.

We talk about attention like it’s a character issue. Focus harder. Be more disciplined. Spend less time online. As if the problem is something wrong with you, and the fix is trying harder.

But remove the option to be distracted, and behaviour follows almost immediately. No effort required.

That’s not a willpower story. That’s a design story.

Most of us are spending our days inside systems we didn’t consciously choose – feeds, notifications, defaults – and then blaming ourselves when those systems do exactly what they were built to do.

Being online on your own terms doesn’t start with discipline. It starts with asking: what has my environment already decided for me?

The blackout made that obvious. I’m not sure I needed two days without electricity to figure it out, but here we are.