October 6, 2017
As most of you know, I went ALL IN on my digital detox while I was on vacation. I didn’t turn on my phone, check my email or log onto social media for two whole weeks. Why? Because I decided I needed a healthy dose of my own medicine.
I talk to my clients all the time about the importance of digital detoxing, especially during their wedding weekend. This is one of the absolute keys to staying present and fully enjoying your special day (and that goes for your guests as well as enticing as the Insta posts are in the moment!).
While I’ve been offering this advice left and right, I realized I hadn’t really been practicing what I preach. Ever since starting this business, I feel like I’ve been glued to my phone. There’s always one more email to respond to, one more post to like and one more story to share. I felt constantly behind, was getting very little sleep and burning the candle at both ends. While I felt productive, I also felt exhausted. And sure enough, I got sick the very first day of vacation. The moment my body realized it was safe to relax, it let me know how desperately it’s been needing to rest. So I stopped setting alarms and went to bed when I felt tired, and ended up sleeping 10-12 hours/night. I guess I had some catching up to do!
Here are 5 things I learned in the absence of checking my phone and scrolling through to find the latest acaí bowl recipes:
1. I got so much time back – I listened to three books, read two, and got a shit ton more sleep.
2. My mind got to take a break – I realized I spend a ridiculous amount of time and energy caught up in my head as a result of technology. I’ll re-read text messages when I think my response might have been misinterpreted, I’ll second guess life decisions if I see someone doing something awesome on Facebook, and I’ll feel guilty if I don’t respond back in an instant. It was freeing to not have to worry about ANY of that for a change.
3. Life goes on just fine – If I’m being honest, one of my biggest fears of doing a digital detox is I would come back and have 0 followers and no one left in my Soulabration Sisters Facebook community. As silly as it sounds, I was afraid that if I went silent for two weeks, everyone would get bored and disappear. To my surprise, the opposite happened! So THANK YOU to all of you for not abandoning me and restoring my faith in humanity that people don’t have to be online 24/7 to stay connected.
4. I was more present – duh. This one seems like a no brainer but it’s actually amazing (and sick) how accustomed I’ve gotten to scrolling through my phone whenever there is a “free” moment. I found myself scrolling in the line for the freaking bathroom! By not having a device to turn to in those moments of pause, I realized how much I miss by just not being present. The random conversation with a stranger, the funny dog across the street, or the tree that is in bloom.
5. I felt more connected IRL – Andrew and I just had the best conversations on our 4-hour long car rides, 3-hour meals, and 8 mile hikes. Without the distractions of our phones, we were able to fully enjoy each other’s company. We took in our surroundings, went on countless adventures and talked about things other than what we had seen or read online.
My takeaways?
I want up my meditation game to stay grounded and practice letting go of things more quickly.
I would benefit from setting more clear boundaries around my use of technology.
It is important to DISCONNECT to RECONNECT.
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