How to Unplug in Today’s Plugged in Society

If someone asked you unplug completely for 24 hours, could you do it?? Imagine one whole day without your phone. Maybe you start at Starbucks. As you wait for your coffee, what do you do without your phone?? You leave and hit a traffic jam. Without Maps, how do you know how big the backup is??

Our phones are incredibly useful tools, but they are also crutches. We don’t need to check them as we wait or know exactly how long traffic will take.? Our life-enhancing communication devices are also life-sucking sources of temptation. How can we learn to put them down and completely unplug? Here are some ideas on how to get your life back and unplug from today’s plugged in society.

We Live in a Constant State of Vigilance

A phone is supposed to be a tool that we control, but most of us admit it now controls us.? Like our alerts, we feel forced to always be “on.” Psychology Today calls this a constant state of “online vigilance” and it prevents us from being fully present with other people.? Being plugged into a smartphone means one's mind is always monitoring communications like email, texts, or phone notifications. This state of constant alertness does not give our minds time to rest and focus on what happened in the past or future. In other words, we cannot process information like we should.? Being plugged in all the time is the opposite of mindfulness, which trains the mind to focus on being aware of the present moment, according to a study by Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. “Researchers found that checking your phone decreased mindfulness and caused people to be preoccupied and more distracted,” according to the study.?

Relearning Life without a Phone

If you are of a certain age, you can remember life completely unplugged.? One of our recruiters even recalls her dad telling his company he didn’t want a company-paid car phone because then he could be reached when he was with his family.??

As an interesting experiment, Business Insider contributor Javier Ortega-Araiza decided to go without his phone for an entire year. “Like so many others, I'd treated my phone as a crutch – there to entertain me when I was bored, or remind me of a fact or event that I'd forgotten,” Ortega-Araiza states. “I'd gotten so dependent on it that I wasn't sure who I was without it.”?

During the year, he experienced plenty of times he missed using his phone.? He had to borrow a friend’s phone to call an Uber and could only check email from his computer. But as he got adjusted, he discovered that it was not necessary to check his phone so much. “I found that when I checked my emails or messages on the computer after coming back from a tennis game, for example, nothing pressing had happened,” he says. “It took time, but eventually, the anxiety I felt from being disconnected began to wane.”? Ironically, Ortega-Araiza’s biggest takeaway is that he learned how to communicate better without a phone, but with people.??

How to Truly Unplug from Your Phone

The first step in unplugging from one’s phone is to understand that life goes on without it.?

Yes, even your work life will go on without your constant state of phone vigilance.? To combat burnout, it is essential that we unplug, especially after work hours.? Countries around the world recognize this and are even developing “right to disconnect after work” policies. In Australia, for example, employees have a right to refuse contact if an employer reaches out to them after hours.? In Portugal, some employers are forbidden to contact employees after work hours.??

To unplug, establish boundaries for your personal work-life balance, and think about your home life being in balance as well.? Consider establishing phone-free hours, disabling push notifications, or setting your phone down for an entire evening.? This article has a list of apps you can buy to help keep you off your smartphone. Another idea is to set your phone aside one day a week.? Set personal goals to check and limit your screen time.

Challenge yourself to stay away from your phone while on vacation.? Be aware of how your kids and your spouse see you using your phone.??

Artemis Consultants understands that using our phones is a huge part of doing business.? But we also know it’s necessary and healthy to set boundaries and seek a work/life balance where being unplugged is encouraged.??

-Written exclusively for Artemis Consultants by Business Content Writer Mellody Melville