How to Practice Silence and Solitude

This is one of those practices that sounds simple and turns out to be genuinely hard the first few times you try it. Here’s how to actually start.

Start With Ten Minutes, No Phone

Pick a room, a porch, a parked car — somewhere you won’t be interrupted. Leave your phone in another room entirely, not just face-down beside you. Set a timer for ten minutes. Sit. That’s the whole assignment. No podcast, no journal, no agenda beyond being there, undistracted, in front of God.

Expect It to Feel Terrible at First

Nobody warns you about this part: the first several times, silence feels less like peace and more like withdrawal from a drug. Your mind will race. You’ll suddenly remember eleven emails you need to send. You’ll want to check your phone within ninety seconds. This is completely normal — it’s just evidence of how much noise you’ve been running on, not evidence that the practice isn’t working. Push through the discomfort a few times before you decide whether it’s for you.

What to Do With Your Thoughts

Keep a small notepad nearby. When a to-do item intrudes, don’t fight it — just jot it down in one word and let it go, trusting the paper to hold it instead of your mind. Then gently return your attention to God’s presence. You’ll do this over and over in a single ten-minute stretch at first. That’s not failure. That’s the actual exercise, the same way returning your attention is the actual exercise in any form of focused attention.

Build From There

Once ten minutes feels normal, stretch it. Try a longer stretch once a month, or a full unplugged morning once a quarter. But don’t skip the small version to chase the big one — the daily ten minutes will do more for your soul over a year than one dramatic retreat you take once and never repeat.