on unplugging.
i mentioned in this post from the other week that josh and i were planning to unplug from our phones on sundays. it’s just so easy to check in with twitter or instagram for a second and lose ten minutes on there… what a time suck! well anyway, it has been two sundays since that post, and you know something? best. two. sundays. ever.
during years and months past, i always felt like we were doing really well with this sort of thing. we have never had a tv in our home. we aren’t into video games. josh hasn’t had a facebook account for years and i log into mine so rarely i always have to have them resend me my password because i forget. but now there are all the social media sites we do use often and love (like twitter, or instagram or pinterest or the new vine app.) as a blogger, these sites are such a great way to stay connected with friends and readers alike. and if you haven’t noticed by the amount of overgramming i tend to do, i sort of like social media a whole bunch.
in this day and age of always being connected, i swear all of this modern technology gets in the way of our living! on a few occasions at the park, i’ve noticed someone pushing their child on the swing while being totally checked out and staring at their mobile device. and all i can think is, goodness i am so close to becoming that person. between texting, social media apps, reading and responding to comments and questions on said social media apps, checking email, updating the ical… it’s like, well of course we are glued to this thing 24/7. and also, how sad.
so sundays are becoming our slower day… away from technology… our day of rest.. it is the sabbath after all. and whether you’re religious or not, it’s nice to have a little breather. a time to unwind. to gather inspiration out in the world, away from your mobile device. to enjoy the people around you and your surroundings without refreshing any app to see who is eating what for brunch (i mean seriously!).
in addition, we’ve stopped bringing our phones to the table. when josh and i are out on a date away from the littles, the phones stay away, too. and something we haven’t done yet but i keep hearing about and would love to try… charging phones at night in a room that is not the bedroom. i love this one. we need to buy a clock for our room so we can do this.
what do you do to stay sane and unplug?
photos by tim coulson.
I’m in high school and I can totally attest to getting sucked in. It seems like every time there is a break in school it seems like everyone, including myself goes to their phones. I made the decision for no phones at meals. Especially lunch so I can have face to face conversation. Also when I babysit I only use my phone to take pictures of their cute little faces. Also when I hang out with my friends we leave our phones in our bags. When you are hanging out with friends, family and little ones you need to be present. I really love that you do this. I want to convince my family to try this on Sundays after church too!
Oh my… A) I loved this. B) This must be a big issue. Because you, me, and my friend all blogged about this at about the same time tonight.
Hahaha. Twins. Check it out! shelbylanece.blogspot.com/2013/02/taking-time-to-live.html
I just have to leave it sometimes. Just straight up go places unattached. Sometimes even a camera limits how I experience something. It’s crazy!
I just blogged about this actually (thislittleport.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/keeping-up-with-social-media.html) and I’ve found a few things helpful: turning my iphone to airplane mode overnight so it’s just an alarm clock, deleting facebook and vine from my iphone, not putting my phone on the table when I’m with my husband or out with friends, and NOT checking the phone first thing in the morning. I think it’s something we’re all struggling to work out though…
Good for you! Your littles will thank you!
So funny you suggest keeping the phone in another room and using a clock! I’ve been meaning to do that too…I got the clock, but now I just need to move the phone and charger. I was thinking of moving it to the bathroom since it’s the first place I go when I wake up and I can browse the internet while I brush my teeth.
It’s nice to see popular bloggers stick up for Sunday in such a subtle way. Its a good reminder that *ahem* I need to too. xoxo
I was totally thinking about this all week! I don’t want to be that person either!I need to unplug for one day too! Thanks for posting this! <3
stefanichung.blogspot.com/
Being unplugged reminded me of Maude Apatow’s essay a few months ago: hellogiggles.com/falling-out-of-love-with-twitter
She is a decade younger than me, yet I could relate to her trying to be creative but being stuck in the “twitter”/technology age. It really does hinder creativity or just plain living life.
Im catholic so right now we’re in the beginning of Lent. I’ve given up Facebook for those 40 days and honestly, its the most relaxed and unglued to my phone I’ve been in years!
Im now starting to consider giving Facebook for good!…..but i gotta have my Instagram still haha
Great idea… especially doing it for one day. I often find myself checking my work and personal phones when I should be enjoying the time I have with my little one. It’s amazing how people think they are more ‘connected’ when if you really think about it, is so far from the truth.
Great post! I think that you’re doing something beneficial for both of you and your little family! Nowadays it’s so easy to loose a lot of time while being “connected” to everybody in the internet, while actually staying away from being connected with those closest to you.
I think that having no phone Sundays is fabulous idea and I would like to start doing that too. In fact, I’ll start this Sun