We live in a world where everything is just a click or touch away – we communicate, share photographs, pay bills, and even shop with a touch of a button! This digital era has surely made our lives easier, but at the same time, the growing dependency on our gadgets and apps has taken its toll on our health and relationships.
Tell us, when was the last time you disconnected from your mobile devices and enjoyed some good old-fashioned, face-to-face social interactions, or went for a few hours of uninterrupted silence without reaching for your phone? If it has been so long that it’s hard to even remember, then this post is for you!
Technology in many ways brings us together and helps us stay close to people, but it also doesn’t hurt to sometimes step away from it and take a break to remind ourselves that life is moving by so quickly–things are happening offline in the here and now and we need to pay attention.
So here is what we are proposing: Go social-media free for a day. Start by turning off all the phone notifications and emails for your social media apps, and move your social media apps to a folder on your phone called “Unplugged”. Choose one time (or two) during the day to check in with the digital world. Once you’ve started to wean yourself from scrolling aimlessly through Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter, go completely social media-free for one whole day (probably a day in the weekend would work best).
Now fill your time offline with meaningful things that maybe you haven’t been able to do lately. Take a walk on the beach, arrange a coffee with an old friend, or read that book you have been saving for when you had the time to focus. The possibilities are endless, and you’ll be less tempted to spend time scrolling through social-media when you have other activities to look forward to!
The idea is to reduce stress, slow down from all the “busy-ness” and focus on real life by engaging in social interactions in the real world, rather than on virtual platforms. Over the next month use your times of connectivity on purpose, and step away from social-media to reconnect with your family and friends to create new memories without all those fancy filters.
Have you gone social-media free for a day or longer? If so drop us a note below to let us know how it went and what you learned from the experience!
