Unplugging and Enjoying

I spent the first hour or so this morning on the phone with the IT department at my job. Now just to set the story straight I didn’t do anything to screw my computer up, it just didn’t want to do the update it was supposed to. But it really got me thinking on how much we really do rely on technology in our everyday lives. That can be from what we are doing at work, how we entertain ourselves after work (or during, and even how you are reading this blog right now. We spend a lot of time throughout the typical day staring at a screen. You stare at your phone, computer, and your TV a good portion of your day.

When I go camping, hiking or anything out in nature I like to “unplug”. What I mean by that is I like to put any kind of technology away and truly enjoy nature for what it is. I want to be entertained my nature. I keep my cellphone packed away in my backpack and really only use it in case of emergencies. I don’t even carry headphones with me because the only music I like to listen to when out hiking is the sounds of nature. Now I know this is making me sound like a total hippy, but I really sometimes need to step away from the real world and just relax. Getting off the grid of using any kind of technology frees of that stressful life sometimes, even if it is only for a few short hours.

I know it can be hard for some people to step away from their phones for a very long time or even 5 minutes. I have been keeping track on the amount of screen time that I have been on my phone that last few weeks. I know on the iPhone there is tracker for it in the settings app. It will let you know how much screen time you have had in the last day, the last week, and the average over the last week. One of the features that I use on there is the time limit. You can limit yourself on different types of apps. So I can go on there and put that I only want allow myself to be my social media apps for 2 hours a day. If I try to access my apps after I have exceeded that time limit it won’t let me open them. This makes me truly limit my time on my phone and other technology devices that I have. I know parents do a similar thing sometimes when they let their children play with their tablets or phones. But maybe adults can try it on themselves and see if it makes a difference.

Stepping away from the stresses of the real world sometimes can be very relaxing, especially when you are on vacation. Setting that technology down for a little while and enjoying the moment that you are in. Give it a try this Thursday when you are out celebrating the 4th of July with your friends and family. There are many different ways to keep yourself entertained without using technology. Leave a comment letting me know what you do to entertain yourself beside using technology.

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“Cheers”