Disconnect To Reconnect

Reasons To Unplug From Technology
Technology has managed to bewitch me - mind, body and soul - and has been successful in creeping up and finding itself a permanent spot among my family. It's unfortunate that I, like so many of you, have been made a victim to the digital and technological world. Staying constantly plugged into the world around me has proven to negatively and positively impact my life. As a sister, daughter, aunt, friend and full-time corporate employee, I have come to realize that I am missing out on significant life events happening within and around my family.

As an experiment, I decided to make a drastic change in my life - unplug from technology.  Although outrageous to some of you reading this, I disconnected from technology by implementing strict rules (within reason) into my daily routine.  Challenging at first, I want to share with you the reasons why I decided to unplug, what methods I used to help my transition, and what positive benefits I experienced as I disconnected from technology and reconnected with the people around me.

Reasons I Unplugged From Technology
Although I understand how useful and convenient technology is and can be in my life, its constant presence makes it difficult to function without it.  Here are the reasons why I decided to unplug from technology:

• No Human Interaction: I am constantly checking, texting, or using other electronic devices while in mid conversation with people.  I no longer had face-to-face conversations, nor did I interact with living, breathing people anymore. The development of social media replaced my verbal discussions and turned them into cyber attacks and no longer did I feel the need to talk to or interact with others in person. I felt a simple text, phone call or email would suffice for a response, not to mention count as a way to interact.
• No Physical Activity: Thanks to my flat screen TV and entertainment system, I noticed that family dinner consisted eating around a screen, watching the latest episode of a TV series, in silence. No longer did we play outside before dinner, or spend time in the park playing with the dog like we used to.  I realized I was getting lazy and forgot what it meant to be physically active. Not acceptable.
• Development of Negative Attitudes: The more immersed I became in my technology, the more I began developing anti-social behaviors.  I didn’t understand why listening gave me such a headache or why acutally opening my mouth and using my vocal cords became irritating.Then I realized that I was using technology as an escapre route to avoid dealing with real, tangible feelings and concerns. I was allowing emails and text messages to supplement my voice.

Methods To Help Unplug
As an avid user in today’s digital world, I found it to be extremely difficult to maintain a healthy connection with my family.  To help me disconnect from technology and rebuild my relationships, I implemented the following methods as a means to reconnect with people who mattered to me in life.

• Strict House Rules: I created a list of rules and visibly displayed them through my house made the initial transition of unplugging easier. I had a constant reminder that work related calls or emails would not be answered after office hours and the uses of all social media accounts were no longer allowed to be accessible during family time. These constant reminders were helpful and necessary.  Television, video game consoles, and portable electronic devices were not allowed to be used during work days, and were only allowed to be used after sunset on weekends.
• Limited Access: Limiting access to electronic devices, Internet usage, television watching, and game consoles proved to be one of the best approaches to helping me unplug from technology. Initially downgrading my cable channels, I removed multiple monitors and relocated them to a single room – the entertainment room – as a means to reinforce "my" time. By limiting access to the use of technology, I forced myself to find other outlets to consume my timem, prompting me to reunite with my childhood passions.
• Techno-free Vacation: Whether it was for a day, a weekend, or an actual vacation, one of the best ways to help me unplug from technology is to spend time with the people that mattered to me and leaving technology behind. I spent time in parks, at beaches, and being active, uninterrupted by distracting noises and notifications, every time I scheduled a meeting with friends or family, I made sure I didn't have an outlet or I didn't have my phone on hand. I can't tell you how free I was and how in the moment I felt!
• Face-to-Face Interactions: By removing the option of having conversations via technology, I began to prioritize my mode of communication as face to face interations. Once an initial phone conversation was made, I suggested that I meet with people if it was applicable. I wanted to make sure I knew the person's face I was talking to. I realized by making this a priority, I was able to network and build more valuable relationships over time. 

Positive Benefits of Digitally Detoxing
For a long time I had become oblivious to how much time I acutally spent buried in technology. By removing or unplugging myself from the unhealthy and addiction-fuelled influence, the methods I chose to incorporate into my life proved to restore and reconnect me to people again.

• Refocusing Relationships: Digitally detoxing from technology helps you to refocus and re-evaluate who is really important in your life. Instead of freely expressing and communicating your true emotions through social media forms, interacting with people face-to-face helps you in social situations to solve problems.
• Remembering to Appreciate the “Now”: Recognize that technology speeds up time and is relative to your individualized state of motion.  Therefore, learning how to unplug from technology provides you with tranquility, stillness, and time to appreciate moments in your life.  Without technology’s strong influence, you’re able to remove yourself from that environment to restore your sense of independence and embrace the “now.”

After my experiement for digital detoxing, my addiction to using technology has significantly decreased. Instead of depending on it like I used to, I have learned the valuable lesson of when to use it, when to turn it off, and how.  No longer am I compelled to share every movement or comment on the statuses of others because I no longer feel the nagging pressure to prove I'm relevant in this digital world.  Connecting, nurturing, and interacting with people on a personal level has been the most beneficial lesson learned since reactivating and reconnecting to the technological world again.

Like a well-balanced diet, the use of technology in your life should be used to help manage and organize it – not control it.  The best advice I can give you as you move forward in our modern world is to try digitally detoxing.  Not only will you promote and encourage the use of your imagination, you’ll be able to further solidify and transcend the relationships you want on an emotional, physical, and spiritual depth.