“People generally know that I do it, so if I die, I would like to think that they would find me eventually,” Ross tells Vox. “But I find that really restorative. I find that it’s really helpful just to check back in with myself after the week and really appreciate nature.” After conducting multiple studies on solitude, he’s come to consider this form of alone time — one completely removed from human contact — a way of being “attuned to the self.” During the week, Ross trains with a run club, but Saturdays are for him; they’re his opportunity to reflect.

Though a solitary jog through the woods hardly seems social at all, the ritual is an essential component of Ross’s social routine, as alone time is necessary for any well-balanced social life. Jeffrey A. Hall, a communication studies professor at the University of Kansas, sees this ratio of alone and social time as integral to a healthy “social biome,” which is also the title of the book he co-authored with Andy J.

Merolla, a communications professor at UC Santa Barbara. Each person’s unique social biome encompasses all of their regular interactions with friends and family, co-workers, and strangers, and it thrives when there is a mix of connectedness and alone time. Because social interaction is inherently energy-intensive, everyone needs solitude to replenish.

“It allows us to regroup, understand our sense of self, recharge our batteries, but then also be capable of entering into conversation and discourse with curiosity and compassion and interest,” Hall tells Vox. Despite — or perhaps because of — solitude’s restorative abilities, we’ve collectively gone a little overboard on alone time. Between 2003 and 2019, Americans spent an increasing amount of their day alone: 43.5 percent in 2003 versus 48.7 percent in 2019, according to an analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. (It went up even more in 2020.) Meanwhile, the amount of time Americans spent with people they don’t live with dropped.

These shifts are reflected in cultural messages like the push to “protect one’s peace” from exhausting friends and the glorification of canceling plans. Ironically, a lot of attention has been paid to the loneliness epidemic, and the physical and emotional harms that chronic loneliness can cause. But someone who spends frequent time in solitude isn’t necessarily lonely, just as people who are physically alone might not be getting restorative solitude.

Are you really by yourself if you’re accessible by text and email? While the ideal amount of solitude is unique to each individual, there are ways to ensure alone time is truly beneficial and doesn’t become your default state. “Shades of solitude” In a 2024 study, Ross outlined the ways in which solitude can end up being fairly social; he and his co-author referred to it as being “shaded” by technology.

On one end of the spectrum is total isolation, where you’re physically alone, inaccessible to others, and not engaging in any virtual communication or social media consumption. On the other end are instances in which you’re not exactly socializing, but there’s potential for social interaction; think of being in a coffee shop with strangers, available on Slack, looking at Instagram. Everything else falls somewhere in the middle.

For example, reading a book or scrolling TikTok is what Ross considers a solitary social experience due to the ability to engage with another’s thoughts. In this study, all forms of solitude were restorative, but participants considered the more social versions, like reading in a coffee shop, more effective at fostering connection while, at the same time, recharging their batteries. These semi-social solitary pursuits might also be more accessible for those who can’t steal away for hours at a time.

“There’s different possible experiences with these different types of solitude,” Ross says. “It comes down to aligning what you’re able to carve out in your day-to-day life, as well as some of the specific things that you’re trying to get out of solitude. Being in the woods might be better for some things, but the moment on the commute and the shower, those moments might be more helpful for other things.” Need a breather?

Signs you might need some alone time (and how to get it). Just because you spent a lot of time socializing doesn’t mean you need to go hermit mode. Hall has found that even after enjoyable but energy-intensive social events, like a party, people typically still enjoy unwinding with others. “Like walking home from a bar with your