The autumn season is the perfect time to strike a balance between being productive and adjusting your routine, as well as adding more self-care and rest. A great way to start doing this is by unplugging a little more often.
What is Unplugging?
What exactly does it mean to unplug? This can be subjective based on what you are looking to benefit from, but in general unplugging is when you spend some time away from social media, communications, and technology.
Different Methods of Unplugging:
- Stay Off Your Phone Completely – Choose different times when you can leave your phone at home or turn it off completely. Maybe when you are at work and don’t want the added distraction, or in the evenings during family time.
- Delete Social Media Apps – A great option for unplugging is to remove social media apps for a few days or weeks. Take a break from the drama, toxic energy, and constant influx of information.
- Have Tech-free Weekends – Lastly, some people like to go entire weekends without any technology, including the internet, computer, phone, and sometimes not even television. It gives you the chance to have fun game nights with friends, be more active, go on adventures, or read at home.
Benefits of Unplugging
There are many benefits you get when you unplug, even for a few hours or a day at a time. For some people, it is important to take breaks from social media in order to not have so much negativity exposed to them constantly. For others, they sleep better when they commit to not using their phone at night.
You might find that you discover other activities you enjoy but had forgotten about, like writing, painting, exercising, driving, or playing with your pets. You also get to enjoy adventures and trips without constantly thinking about taking pictures and videos for Instagram.
How Much Unplugging Should You Do?
How often you do this and for how long is completely up to you. There might be something in your life that causes you to use social media regularly, like a job where using it is necessary, so for you, it can’t be done quite as often. For others, longer stretches without technology is crucial.
Take it slow, with just choosing an hour or two during the day where you don’t use your phone or other technology, then increase it as needed.
