What is the first thing you do when you wake up, extend your hand out of the blanket toward your phone?
Does your hand go to your phone the very moment you hear the sound of the message coming from your phone?
Do you read the news, write to your friends, and see what they wrote before falling asleep at night?
Are you caught in a cycle of endless scrolling, spending hours with your eyes glued to the screen?
Young people might not know how life was before the era of technology, when people read books and met friends and when children played games in the yard or street.
People were more focused, and their attention spans were longer since there were fewer things to distract them.
Some crave for the times when life was simpler before technology began ruling our lives.
Unplugging from Social Media Gives You Back Your Life
How about some unplugging from technology and social media? How about becoming the boss of your life instead of letting technology rule your life?
Well, unplugging might leave you feeling disconnected and lonely. This is because you forget that there is life outside of your phone and computer.
Unplugging from Social Media gives you back control over your time and your life.
You need to unplug more often. You will lose nothing. You will regain control of your mind, attention, and time.
I am not telling you to ditch your phone and computer. Not at all! Just display some moderation.
Mobile phones and computers have changed life on Earth, and they are vital tools. Use them wisely, but do not let them control your life.
There Is a Whole World Around You
Each of us needs time every day to be away from social media and the internet. A time for calming the mind, living the real life, not digital life.
Are you aware of the long hours you spend surfing the Internet and engaging with your social media accounts? Can you imagine how many things you could have accomplished if you had directed your time and energy to achieving goals?
You need to put healthy boundaries, so you can bring sanity back to your life.
Young people, who have been born into the digital age, and grown with it, might not now what I am talking about. They might have never known a different kind of life.
It’s like living a closed room without windows and doors. You know what is in the room, but do not know that there is life outside of it.
Suppose someone breaks an opening in one the walls of the room and you can go out. You suddenly see a different world. You discover that there are other people, there is a sun shining in the sky. You see trees, flowers and birds, a whole new world, which you were not conscious of.
Unplugging can do the same!
How to Unplug from the Social Media
Here are my favorite tips to unplug from your social media accounts:
- Once a day, turn off your phone for 30 minutes or put it on mute.
- Once in a while, put your phone away in a drawer, away from where you are sitting or working.
- Occasionally, turn off your phone at night, and turn it on again in the morning. Yes, you can switch off your phone and let it rest.
- Put off the sound of you phone while eating, and put it upside down so you cannot see the screen.
- Once a day, leave your phone in a different room, and sit down reading a book for 10, 20 minutes or more.
- It is also good to unplug before you go to sleep. Think about something pleasant or about a goal you wish to achieve, instead of fixing eyes on the screen.
- You don’t have to respond to every notification, and you do not need to respond immediately, especially when you are busy.
- Focus on the things that really matter, or which you always procrastinate.
- A great number of the notifications do not convey any important information. The world will go on existing even if you don’t read them or respond.
- If you wish to be in control of yourself and of your life, stop allowing your attention be distracted by every notification on your phone.
- Finish what you are doing, and then look at your phone. This will increase your attention span and improve your focus.
Remember, it’s your time, and you decide what to do it. Don’t let your phone, your notifications, and the social media accounts decide for you.
You don’t need to unplug all the time, even just 10-20 minutes here and there would be a good.
It’s tough to unplug. You feel as if you are unplugging from your friends, from your life. Everyone is immersed in the social media, hardly noticing how deep they became addicted.
It’s funny to see how people drop everything the moment they get a notification. It’s an automatic robotic action.
Would a real friend break relations with you if you do not respond immediately? Of course, not!
Being Always available Is not Very Helpful
Unplugging from the Internet can have a positive effect on your mindset and your thinking. You will be able to think your own thoughts and have time with yourself. This would give you time to unplug from outside ideas and opinions and make you free.
Surfing the Internet can inspire you, encourage you, and get you all the information and knowledge you want.
It can help you make connections, and it can entertain you.
However, taking it too far, can mess with your mindset, and make you forget the real world.
As in everything in life, moderation is important.
People don’t really care about every experience you share. They don’t care where you have been and what you have done.
Documenting your life and every unimportant action and activity will not get you into the history books, so that generations in the future would learn from your experiences.
Getting many likes does not mean that you are an important person or that people really like you.
Life for everyone has changed. We are all plugged in and immersed in a virtual world now. We forgot reality.
Unplugging Occasionally keeps You Charged
You plug your phone to charge it.
You also plug various electrical appliances in order to charge them.
However, if you want to charge yourself, you need to do the opposite. You need to unplug.
Unplugging occasionally from the Internet and from the Social Media can energize you, if you use the time wisely.
Here are a few things you will be able to do if you stop being a slave to your phone:
- You will get out from your bed refreshed and energetic after a good night’s sleep.
- You will have time to prepare and eat breakfast.
- Meditate once a day
- Start reading books.
- You will find the time to exercise, walk, or go to the gym.
- There will be a better listener and there would be and better communication. You would actually hear what people are saying.
- You will find time for your hobbies.
These are just of the few the many activities you will enjoy doing.
Being online all the time puts us at risk of living our entire lives in some kind of virtual reality.
You might think you have friends, but are they really friends, or just virtual friends?
You feel close to other people, to celebrities, actors and singers, because you follow their daily lives. With all due respect to them, but is this really important? Does this improve your life in any way?
Related article: Can You Stop Using Your Cell Phone for One Hour?
Ask Yourself the Following Questions
- What are you afraid of missing out on if you unplug for ten twenty minutes or more?
- Would people break your relationship with you?
- Will your friends forget you?
- Do you believe you will offend someone if you do not respond on the spot?
- Are your fears justified? Most probably they are not!
Related Post: Self Discipline Benefits and Importance.
Setting Boundaries
You need to set boundaries, so you can reclaim your time and your life.
If it makes you feel good, tell your friends that you might not respond immediately, because you wish to unplug once in a while.
Technology is an important part of our life, but we should not allow it to control our life. We should learn to use it when we need it, when necessary, and unplug whenever we want.
