living
78 CalmMoment.com
W
aking up in the morning should be a
gentle process, to the faint sound of an
alarm or perhaps the peak of a sunrise.
Yet I can admit that at the sound of my own alarm,
the first thing I usually grab is my phone (which is
also my alarm). My morning routine then starts as
the screen brightens my face, opening an inbox of
new emails, social media notifications, and things
that the online world begs me to look to.
There’s no denying the power of technology
and its ability to advance our lives, but is it really
making our lives better? The convenience of
a smart phone is in being able to quickly reference
an email or find a new place to eat, and, without
our phones, it may feel unnatural to navigate our
day to day lives as society has developed alongside
technology. Even our ability to think critically and
focus has been crippled as we are often turning our
heads towards screens instead of the outside world.
Though we are promised a better life at the push
of a button, it’s important to remember that
technology was never intended to take away our
lives, but to be a tool. While there are so many
things to consume on our devices, which can easily
take up hours of our day, we can be selective with
how much we choose to look at them.
I recently spoke with a friend who utilises social
media platforms for her work. Previously, she found
herself guilty of excessively using her phone to
reply to the hundreds of comments and questions
she received daily. As a result, she plugged into her
online world but unplugged from the offline. While
her online engagement was great, deep down, she
began to feel miserable and disconnected.
With this realisation, my friend decided to unplug
for six out of every seven days, committing only one
day to social media. She shared with me that in
a matter of months, her audience and engagement
numbers did drop slightly, but she loved the more
intimate setting of a smaller online community,
the decreased pressure of having to post and
respond all the time. Perhaps she forfeited some
of the influence she had in the digital world, but shePlug in to reality
It’s all too easy to make your phone the centre of your world, but being
selective with technology can actually make us feel more connectedgained mental peace in the midst of her everyday
life, and it showed.
The experience of my friend is not an unfamiliar
one as I too have had my fair share of social media
detoxes. How many of us have looked at a digital
device in the middle of a conversation? Technology
connects and advances us, but perhaps it’s time to
slow down, reconsider our boundaries, and unplug.
As I’m continuing to minimise my digital life,
I hope you’ll join me in trying out some of the things
that I’ve found helpful. Here are a few to start with:
Remove any applications from your devices that
you rarely use; Consider having an unplugged day
once a week – no emails, computer, phone or TV;
Put a timer on for how long you decide to use social
media – let’s say, 3 0 minutes each day.
You may also notice that without technology, you
might run into challenges, or opportunities to do
something new with all your free time. Some of my
favourite unplugged activities are: Exploring a new
city with a paper map, simply allow intuition to
guide you; Trying a new craft, recipe, or something
that allows me to get hands-on; Spending time with
friends or family and being present!
With that, I hope my words encourage you to
reconsider your digital life and reflect on how much
time it truly takes up. If you’re like me, time off from
all technology is sure to bring some freedom and
spontaneity to your daily routine, and we could all
use a break from the busy online world. So, unplug,
turn off devices, and perhaps you’ll find that
a satisfying life is already out there waiting for
you, beyond the digital screen.Christine Liu is a California-
based author and creator who
is passionate about simple, slow,
and sustainable living. Read
more about her lifestyle online
at simplybychristine.com and in her
book, Sustainable Home (White
Lion Publishing, £ 1 8), out now.Words: Christine Liu / Illustration: Esther Curtis