Let’s preface this article by saying I love being connected to the world via my phone, the internet, my laptop, my iPad, you name it. One morning a little while back, Arran and I were lying in bed in the early hours of the morning, with our seven year old daughter in between us, all cuddled up, both checking Instagram. She would glance between both screens and say things like ‘go back to that one of the cute dog’ and ‘make that one a love heart’. I had an instant moment of complete and utter heart sink. This was NOT connecting as a family. We should have been wrestling, or chatting as she basted herself like a little kebab rotating around while tickled her as she loved to do. NOT freaking both mutely checking Instagram, in the cold blue glow of our phones.
So we had a reckoning and committed to no phones in bed. And my god is it hard. Stupidly hard. Disappointingly hard.
And from this we started a Daily Digital Detox for an hour in the morning on waking – no phones. We don’t accomplish it every day, but the days we do, are amazing. Suddenly we are getting out of bed refreshed, and ready to stretch out bodies and meditate. We don’t sit to meditate with all of last night’s emails clogging up our thoughts. We cuddle our fat little Jack Russell Honey, and play with Marley and listen to her drone on about Loom Bands whilst actually listening, and not half listening. She also started participating in our morning yoga sessions and meditating with us. The connectivity was so much greater than when we kick started the day seeing what everyone else was doing.
It would be correct in saying that I have a heart attack without my phone on me. Potentially in the future, I may see to having it imbedded under my forearm so I can be with my device at all times (semi-joking). My addiction is that bad. But for me it’s also my work. And a necessary evil. So when I write this article, I am well aware of the irony of asking you to disconnect. And I truly understand how hard it is.
So let’s take baby steps. An hour a day, in the morning on waking. That’s it. The world truly can live with you and you without it, for an hour each day. Go live your life, and not through your phone.
If you need a little motivation, watch this video immediately.
#dailydigitaldetox
Image from Banksy via here and check Artsy for more Banksy imagery and info