Unplugged Sunday. It’s been a thing I’ve done for about five years, give or take, and more-or-less successfully and semi-consistently. (Oh, the qualifiers…)
One day a week, usually Sunday, my goal is to go through the day without using either my mobile devices or my laptop. Note that unplugging from screens doesn’t include TV, at least for me, although some would say that it should. (I am not a fan of “should.”) So…why? This topic has come up several times recently, so I went back to a post from January of 2016, when I started trying to go unplugged. And I also went looking for information (online, naturally) about the benefits. Turning off the devices and cutting down on blue light (particularly near bedtimes) helps people sleep better. Screens are distracting, so putting it away – preferably in a completely different room – helps us focus better. Cutting down on time comparing ourselves to other peoples’ lives on social media is better for mental health. (Cutting down on time being frustrated with the state of the world as reflected on social media helps with mental health, too.)
I read more, crochet more, spend more time in the garden or just outside, and just generally relax differently than I do stuck to the devices. It’s hard…and rewarding. Sometimes I even manage to think about my unplugged day ahead of time and do any online stuff that I might need that day the previous day, such as printing anything or writing it down instead of thinking, “Oh, I’ll just open the laptop for this one thing tomorrow.” How about you? How do you unplug in order to unwind & recharge? Cheers! Here’s to your health!
Original post from 01/20/2016 on Facebook only:
I completely realize the irony of using social media for this week’s #winewellnesswednesday topic! For the past three Sundays, I have been almost entirely unplugged. By unplugged, I mean no gadgets; no iPhone, iPad, or computer. I even wrote the first draft for this topic by hand, using pencil and paper! (Note that unplugged for me didn’t mean no TV, although I did turn the TV off for a considerable portion of the day, including when I wanted to read.)
I have thought on multiple occasions that I (we; people in general) spend too much time staring at a screen. It’s also incredibly easy to lose track of time. Suddenly, I look up from the gadget and 10, 30, or 60 minutes has gone by, and then I wonder where I’m going to find the time to do the things that didn’t get done while I was lost in Facebook, or a game, or…or…or…
It’s hard to go completely without the gadgets and the connectivity. I’ve taken to keeping a running sticky note of things I do or think of through the day. I had emails I felt I had to answer, and on one Sunday I had recipes I wanted to use that I had forgotten to print in advance. Otherwise, the laptop stayed closed, the iPad stayed on the shelf, and the iPhone, volume turned off, stayed, unused, in my pocket. (Considering how…accident-prone I have been, going up and down the stairs without a way to call for help seemed both optimistic and foolish.)
On the third Sunday of this new goal, it seemed easier. I thought of fewer things I needed (so to speak) to use the devices to do or look up. I crocheted more. I cross stitched. I drafted this topic. I read more. I felt less disconnected than I thought I might, as I knew that everything would still be there the next day. I felt less wired or wound up; more grounded, somehow, and calmer, without the varied stimuli from the devices.
I’d read various articles (online!) about the benefits of going unplugged occasionally. Cutting back on screen time before going to sleep is supposed to help you wind down and sleep better. Setting aside the gadgets after working in front of a computer all day is supposed to help you detach from work and refocus on home. And so on, and so forth. I think, mostly, the authors had valid points. And I’m looking forward to my next unplugged Sunday.
So what do you think? Could you go without any gadgets or connectivity to the Internet for a day? How would you benefit from going unplugged for a day?
Cheers! Here’s to your health!