Admittedly, the first thing I reach for in the morning in the cell phone. Now it does have my alarm on it. Actually it has lots of alarms. Wake up, take Littlest to school, send Youngest Twin out to catch the bus, pick up Littlest, and pick up Youngest Twins go off throughout the day.
In fact, my phone keeps track of everything I need to do in a day. It has my daily calendar and to-do list on it. Appointments beep at me to remind me that it’s time to get ready/get in the car and go.
But after turning off my alarm in the morning the first thing I do is typically check email/Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/whatever game I’m playing at the moment.
Now, clearly, I love social media. I’m a blogger! I love getting to share snippets of my life here each day. I love the interaction with friends and family across all the social media platforms. But there is a time and a place for everything.
And in the morning specifically (for me) it’s too easy to immediately get caught up in what’s happening on my phone.
So I’m going to try a couple new things.
The first unplugging goal is to wake up with intention each day. That starts with using an alarm that isn’t my phone. An actual, honest to goodness, alarm clock. I even already own one.
I also need to actually get up when the alarm goes off and not hit snooze for 30 minutes.
Because part of my goals for waking up with intention is to get back to a routine of exercising first thing in the morning. For me, it’s the best time of day for it to actually happen. Wake up, drink some lemon water, and get sweaty.
Then it’s time to get the kids up and focus on getting them ready for school. And then I can start the other parts of my day.
My second unplugging goal is a day each week where I really just unplug. My chosen day will be Sunday.
Okay, now what will ‘unplugging’ actual entail?
For me it won’t be totally unplugging, like no cell phones/tablets/etc. whatsoever.
My goal is for this day to be less about texting and more about seeing people in person. Having friends and family over for dinner. Or at the very least talking on the phone.
Reading books with my kids. Taking walks. Playing games.
Maybe even taking a nap (scandalous thought).
Tent camping this summer forced me to take a tech break. Not a lot of signal out in the woods where we were. And it was lovely sitting around the campfire just relaxing.
I know every week can’t be a vacation, but I would like to carve out some time each week where my focus is shifted. Where my thoughts aren’t centered around FOMO (fear of missing out). Anyone else have that?
We’ll see how it goes and I’ll let you know.
Do you take a tech free day? Or unplug for a certain amount of time each week? Let me know!
This would be so beneficial in so many ways. On our alaska cruise we took several since wifi was so expensive and we were not in a cell area
I don’t have a regular tech free day. Instead, we have pockets of certain days where we just try to be fully unplugged. It is a challenge, though, when so much of your life (personal and work) is tied to technology.
I’m not quite ready to unplug for an entire day. But I do unplug weeknights after school and until the kids go to bed. A few hours of focus is a big help.
Oh my word! I laughed so hard at the phone quote! That is totally me!
I am the same way with my phone when I wake up in the morning. I think my husband and I need a tech free day too.
i haven’t but i really need to. i feel like my kids see the top of my head more than anything! i try to unplug during the day time hours when i’m home with the baby but i’m never quite successful.
I need a tech free day. Bu I don’t know how do to that.
I use my phone for so many other things besides social media that I don’t think I could completely unplug. I do take breaks from social media because it’s a big time suck even when it’s not blog related. Like you, I have to deliberately do it.
I set so many alarms on my phone per day for things related to blogging. It would be so nice to chill out and disconnect!
I don’t do a tech free day unless it’s absolutely impossible to get to the Internet. I mean, I have to connect for my job, and it’s important that I am reachable by email. I am not attached to tech for socializing purposes…mostly for work and communication with clients.
I havent had a tech free days since tech came out 🙂 I dilo make time everyday though.
I didn’t do a tech free day, sometimes I wanted to do but I don’t know how.
You are brave I don’t know how you can live without technology my whole life is on it!
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