I Locked Myself In An Empty Room For 7 Days

So here we are: back out in the open world. It feels… strange. Like stepping off a plane onto foreign soil, or, more aptly, trying to walk around on solid ground after a boat trip — those phantom waves throwing you off balance for the rest of the day, keeping you suspended between two worlds.

In case you didn’t catch the first story where I announced all this, I completed a seven day isolation challenge for The Mental Health Foundation that saw me locked in a room with nothing but books, paper, pens, and a piss-bucket to… erm… relieve myself. There were a whole bunch of rules, requirements, and restrictions to go along with the seemingly simple concept, and the Vocal Curation Team made the announcement a Top Story to (taunt me) keep me accountable. you can read that post below.

If you can’t be bothered (which, let’s be honest, you probably can’t) here’s the abridged version.

The Conditions Of The Challenge

1. Room locked from the outside
2. No news from the outside world
3. No talking to anybody
4. Can only drink water
5. No curtains or bed
6. No technology
7. No intimacy or company
8. One pillow and a sheet
9. Nothing but books, pens, paper, and a small stack of weights inside the room.

The Requirements Of The Challenge

1. 5000 star-jumps per day
2. 500 resistence repititions per day
3. Write 15 pages

There you have it, all caught up. Now, onto the good stuff.

The Week In Summary

Going into this I have to say: I didn't really know what to expect. I had some predictions when I set the parameters of the challenge, but it's obvious now that I was feeling courageous and strong at the time. With each hour that passed, as that clocked ticked ever-closer to the lock-up time, reality began to set in.

I was immediately met with support from the Vocal community and some friends/acquaintances on social media, and that really helped to encourage me and spur me along. But still, that sense of dread grew and grew until I was carrying a boulder on my shoulders.

By the time I was marched upstairs I was bearing the weight of the cross I was set to be crucified on, pinned to it through my wrist and ankles, with a crown of thorns digging into my skull. The biblical connotations, in this instance, are correct. I knew I was about to sacrifice a lot, but I also know it could very well lead to my eternal salvation. And do you know what? It did.

The second that lock clicked into place something interesting happened. It was like a surrendering, but not in a ‘give-up’ kinda way. I surrendered to the challenge, to the conditions I had set, and I knew I had to just do whatever was in front of me. Would I miss the kids? Sure. Would I yearn to hold and kiss Nikki? Of course! But was it forever? Nope, nuh-uh, and I wasn’t about to let anything infect my mind and turn my focus from the tasks at hand.

Knuckle down, one foot in front of the other, an hour at a time, get it done. It’s just a week… how hard can it be?

So I did it, and to say that it was transformative would be an understatement. But as much as it was an amazing experience that taught me more about myself than my previous 32 years on this mortal coil, I had some seriously tough moments.

I pushed myself to my absolute limit at times (more on that in a second) which saw me unable to read, write, or keep myself busy at all — I was completely fried. And in those moments, writhing with aches, pains, and fatigued down to my bones: I struggled. I wanted out.

But I’d sit, or lay, close my eyes, turn my back from the sun, and rest. And before long I’d be back with a pen or pastel in my hand, or taking a trip into another world through books or sketching. It would soon be night, which meant it’d soon be morning, which meant I’d soon be reenergised to do it all over again. Because there was no fucking way I’d come this far to just… stop. And I’m so glad I didn’t.

Key Takeaways

Throughout this process I had many realisations, pivotal understandings that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life, and I can’t unsee them or pretend they don’t exist. If I did, I’d be foolish, ignorant, and settling for a lesser life. I know that now, I’ve seen it, and there’s no going back on it. So here we go, rapid fire round — I don’t want to keep you all day.

We are enslaved to TV and social media

The amount of writing, reading, and exercise I got done is honestly unreal. Without the pull of social media, without getting lost in the endless sea of reels or doom-scrolling the highs and lows —the mountain hikes and petty dramas— of other people’s lives, I was actively productive. And these things weren’t chores. They weren’t consolation prizes. They’re the things I love to do without the trappings of technology stealing away my hours each day, without the next ‘bingeable show’ to Velcro my arse to a sofa.

I wrote enough in seven days to publish at least fifteen articles to Vocal. I’m lucky to publish once a week usually.

My mind was free to roam, to dare to dream. I realised what I’m capable of, the type of output I can achieve, if I only get my head out of a screen and onto a page.

The average network show will steal 10-20 hours of our lives per season! And that’s without snack and bathroom breaks. That’s a lot of sedentary time — a lot of time we could be out seeing the world, staying active, building a business or side income, working on a hobby or developing skills.

Break free from the shackles of TV and social media, place some boundaries there, and see what happens. There’s nothing to lose, and a hell of a lot to gain. We don’t get time back, you know?

We are capable of much more than we believe

I mean, I covered this a little in the last point, but I can’t stress enough how eye-opening this process was to the understanding of my capabilities.

I pushed myself to my absolute limits, because the requirements I set for myself were so naive and unrealistic. In order to discover these limitations I had to shoot far beyond my capabilities, or I’d have simply stopped when I hit a comfortable number.

I got nowhere near 5000 star jumps per day, but I took myself to the point of dragging my feet along the floor to hit the next set of 100. I struggled to get 15 pages down (handwriting sucks — the hand cramp sucks harder) but I was hitting 7-10 by sheer force of will. And some of it was pretty damn good.

By shooting above our limitations, we truly push ourselves to them, and it’s surprising how high that bar actually is. I’ve written, effectively, an entire book, in an empty room, without inspiration or encouragement. Writing block wasn’t a thing. I put pen to paper and watched what spilled out, and I honestly cannot wait to pretty it up and publish it. It’s good! And it was all up in this scatter-brained noggin of mine all along.

Gratitude, Food Obsession, and The Little Things

One thing I noticed immediately, is that gratitude seriously helps you through adversity, and can always be found if you just look for it — you can actually get quite creative with it. I was doing ‘three things I’m grateful for’ a few times a day, and even things like ‘the smell of coffee in the morning’ came up. Like whoever was responsible for scents during creation fucking nailed that one!

I also realised how obsessed I had become with food. Specifically junk food, takeout, and variety. Planning dinner while eating lunch, wasting time in the morning over ‘which food can make me sluggish at work today?’ — incidentally my favourite game.

It was always what I want over what I need. Taking all those options away I found myself picking at some fruit after a workout to restore my blood sugar, and being hungry to scoff through a full roast chicken with some veg of an evening time. And I actually enjoyed it!

Before this challenge you’d have been hard pressed to see me reach for a bit of fruit, but I’ve discovered a new love for it. Give me a couple grapes over a Twix any day!

A simple diet structured around need saves a whole bunch of time and keeps your brain’s very limited ability to make ‘good decisions’ in good standing. You aren’t making a decision at all: it’s already been made for you!

Fresh Goals

It’s strange: on the way in I was a guy with countless dreams and endless excuses. I wished I could do this and wanted to do that, but never really did anything.

A bit of time without the noise of technology, a few body-shattering workouts later, and I’ve transmuted those dreams into goals. Alchemised them into reality through the simple act of ‘planning to the end.’

With my newfound focus, I was able to pick a few things and put them down on paper, with plans and steps, milestones, deadlines, and micro-achievements along the way. Agreements were made with myself, contracts were chiselled in stone, and here’s what I ended up with

1. Cycle and camp the NC500
2. Top 200 Placement in the London Marathon
3. Publish 10 Articles to each Vocal community before withdrawing any funds (more about that in an upcoming story.)
4. Self publish a poetry collection
5. Raise 81k for The Mental Health Foundation
6. Complete Andy Frisella’s 75 Hard ♠️

And it’s important to reiterate, these are non-negotiable. They will all happen, and I have my steps and deadlines down to a T.

The Change Catalyst

I’ve realised through all this that we have all got so much more in us, and all it takes to access it is a catalyst. Something to trigger change, to force us to test ourselves. To find our limitations. For me it was this challenge. For you, it could be anything.

But I will say this: seek it out, find it, and then expand on it. Once you’ve discovered your true limitations it’ll be impossible to not want to stretch them. This week of isolation has been hard, but ultimately transformative. And I never once, not even for a second, wished I hadn’t gone through with it.

My life will never be the same, I know that.

As for the journal I wrote while inside, I can tell you I’m excited to get it typed up, edited, and published. I’ll keep you all in the loop 😊