The Power of Disconnecting
This post may seem slightly heretical coming from the Founder & Director of an Ed Tech company, but in my opinion, we all need to start unplugging our devices and living in the real world for at least a few hours a day. Known as a “digital detox”, you don’t realize just how much our devices have invaded our lives until you leave it behind - either intentionally or unintentionally. Yesterday I had one of those experiences that made me realize two things - I am 100% addicted to my phone, and I can actually function for a few hours without it. Technology is necessary and vital in our working lives - but does it have the same place in our personal lives?
Walking my dog Charlie
I have three dogs - Charlie, Lula, and Otis. They are the best. I thoroughly enjoy my daily walks with them, and they look forward to our walks every day. On my walk yesterday with Charlie yesterday afternoon, I realized about 5 minutes into our walk that I had forgotten my phone at home. For a few minutes I had a real internal debate as to whether or not I should go back home to retrieve it. After all, if I didn’t bring it with me I had no way of counting my daily steps, no way of taking photos in case Charlie did something funny, and no way of communicating with my family in case of any type of emergency. I decided to give a “phone-free” walk a try. It was amazing.
For those of us with a few grey hairs, while it might be difficult to remember what our lives were like before mobile phones, the fact is that I lived longer without one than with one. I used to do every single daily activity without being connected. If I wanted to make a phone call, I had to use a pay phone. If I wanted to take a picture, I had to remember to bring my camera. If I wanted to track my steps, I’d have to clip on a pedometer to my belt. If I had an emergency, I had to leave it to chance that someone would call 911 if I was incapacitated. Can you imagine???
After the initial anxiety of not being contactable wore off, I realized just how liberating not having a device with me actually was. Who cares how many steps I take? Who cares about a photo of my dog sniffing a fire hydrant? Who cares that I can answer texts and emails instantly so as to not make anyone wait for an answer? The answer is simple. No one really cares about those things. They are trivial. What I realized is that not having my phone meant that I could focus 100% of my attention on my dog and my neighborhood. Instead of mindlessly walking and multitasking while checking my daily sales numbers and chiming in on the hysterical text group that I have with my high school friends while ignoring my dog, I could live in the present moment just for myself. What I saw, heard, smelled, and felt were mine and mine alone. How incredibly refreshing to be so present in the moment.
I gave up posting personal updates on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter about 18 months ago. It was the single best decision that I have made for my own well being - ever. I was trying to impress people with photos of places that I’ve been, food that I have eaten, and concerts that I attended. I realized after I gave up social media that no one actually cares about seeing the best version of my life. Not even my own family. Rather than wasting time living for likes, I decided to live for my own experiences and enjoyment. Not having a phone on my walk yesterday made me aware that there are levels of disconnection, and leaving the phone at home - even for a short period of time - can be really meaningful and healthy.
Here are a few things that I am going to try incorporating into my life starting today:
Reduce my daily phone use by 10%
Turn off ALL notifications for email, texts, and other sites
Spend at least an hour a day without my phone being within reach and increase that gradually over time
Turn off Waze and drive without the aid of a navigation system
Leave my phone downstairs when I go to bed
Have more real world conversations with people
Look up more and see the world around me
Read more books
Never walk my dogs with my phone again
I urge you to try disconnecting on a daily basis - even if only briefly. I survived for 34 years before I owned a internet enabled mobile device. The feeling that I had last night made me realize that my life has been 100% dominated by social media companies and hardware manufacturers for the past 20 years. They want you to spend as much of your life using their devices and posting on their sites. They NEED you to do that. All that these social media sites care about - the ONLY thing they care about - is grabbing your attention for as much time as they can so that they can advertise to you. That’s it! Take back your (limited) time on this planet and live tech free and see what it does for your mental and physical well being. I know that I will be doing that very thing moving forward.