Unplugging is Different Kind of Detox

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Digital Distraction

Limiting digital distraction was monumentally easier even just 5 years ago. Ten years ago some of us still didn’t have smart phones. Choosing to be free of the endless digital world used to take less effort.  So I’m pleasantly stunned this week to find I’m without a cell phone or wifi access. It was not deliberate and, yet, given that I seek out wild places this is a welcome experiment in detox.

What happens in the evening between my son and I when I don’t have a text conversation going on while parenting?  How does solitude feel once my hand rises off his heart after tucking him in? The stars certainly look brighter

Enjoy a Digital Detox

If you haven’t given it a shot, I encourage you to try a digital detox. You can aim for a one day a week or a few hours each day. Why not both?   In this world of overload our physiology responds to these times with a sigh of relief.  Removing distraction could end up being the most important thing you do this year for your health, relationships and enjoyment of life.

How to Break Up With Your Phone

If you are looking for more practical tools there is an excellent book by Catherine Price on how to break up with your phone.  Digital distraction is fundamentally changing how we behave moment to moment.  It is more difficult to track our own experience and to make any creative leaps.  We need the gaps to have a break through.  Yesterday my son asked me how old I was when i got my first phone.  Nearly 30 I said.

Is it time to reassess your relationship with your smartphone?  Learning to unplug from digital distraction is the best way to teach my child the skills he’ll need to navigate this technology.  When I’m dying I know I won’t be saying,”I wish I had spent more time on my phone.”  Instead I’ll be thinking of all the amazing things we did when the phone wasn’t around.

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