A Life In Review

If you’re reading this, chances are, you’re on your smart phone. It’s 2022 and a lot of our lives are on these devices. Sure they make things easier sometimes, but they also take things away from our lives too. This isn’t going to be a post to where I lecture and shame you into using your phone less, I sure as heck have no ground to stand on in that area, this post is meant to give you options and maybe even set you free, just for a weekend.

I’ve done an “unplugged” weekend once before and it was really interesting to see the habits that I formed around my phone (and my other devices for that matter). However, that was MONTHS ago and I hadn’t done one since. It’s a new year (can I still call it a new year?) and I wanted to do a refresh, mostly to remind myself that I don’t need my phone to survive (except for driving directions, because without my GPS, I’m not getting anywhere). I am going to share my experience and explain how I did it (I know it seems obvious but there are some things you need to prepare and think about ahead of time).

I have approached this differently both times that I have done it, based on my needs. This round was just a social media break, along with other phone apps. I couldn’t totally go phone free because I’m a mom and a wife and we most definitely don’t have a house phone for emergencies.

How I Did It:

Friday Night:
– Updated my story to share that I was taking the weekend off (I only did that on Instagram because I treat that app more as a job than your typical social media platform, I did nothing on the other apps).
– I also turned off ALL notifications on social media app, sports apps, games and my email. If you are someone who has little to know self control, you can go as far as to delete the apps for the weekend, just make sure that you remember your passwords, and just know that if you are someone who works on Instagram as a content creator (etc.), if you delete the app, you will lose your saved works.

Saturday and Sunday:
– NO social media, sports apps, game apps, email (yes, even work email), LIMITED texting, only EMERGENCY phone calls.
– I most definitely still allowed myself to use the music and podcast apps because I don’t feel like those take away from my family time, in fact we use the music for dance parties and the podcasts to relax. If that is something that takes away from your family time, then those can go as well.
– I made sure to wear my watch this weekend too so that I had no excuse to “check the time” on my phone (we have ONE wall clock in our entire little home).

How It Went (I’m just going to bullet point my thoughts as they came throughout the weekend):

Saturday Thoughts:
– My day started a lot faster because I didn’t wake up and immediately scroll social media or check my email. It was actually really refreshing.
– Around noon I reached for my phone to hop on social media before remembering that I was taking a break. Even then, there were things I could do instead with my little family.
– Around 1:30 we had some down time and that’s when I noticed myself looking for social media to fill that time. Instead I found other (more relaxing) things to do. I ended up painting my nails and actually paying attention to the entire hockey game (I’ve been known to get distracted during the games).
– I didn’t think much about my phone again until about 9:00pm when I was in the middle of making projects and wanted to share my creations. I decided to take pictures of what I was doing and post them on Monday if I still felt like sharing (I’m working on not sharing everything, because it’s so unnecessary to share every single thing that I do in a day).
– I’m pretty sure I went to bed faster tonight without getting sucked down the rabbit hole of videos.

Sunday Thoughts:
– We hit the ground running Sunday morning and since I didn’t have social media to distract me, I turned on a podcast and spent 30 whole minutes getting ready BY MYSELF (if you’re a mom, you know that’s crazy rare). It was really nice, and I am considering continuing an “unplugged” Sunday morning routine.
– Things continued to go well without my phone being the forefront of my day. We were able to enjoy some time with our daughter and she had our full attention (which she thoroughly enjoys).
– During my toddler’s nap, I spent the time totally unwinding on the couch with my husband. We turned on a Crime podcast and played some video games (remember this is a phone free weekend, not necessarily an electronics free weekend). Just by taking away the social media aspect I was able to do something that we both enjoyed with my full attention.
– As the day wore on I didn’t really miss my phone. I truly think that if I had continued to stay unplugged during the week, I wouldn’t even attempt to log on to social media.
– Just like Saturday, I went to bed fairly quickly because I wasn’t scrolling the internet. I also think that my mind was able to slow down without the constant flow of information.

There is a freedom that comes when you are not tied to your phone. By day two I didn’t even care what everyone else was doing (I’m super nosey and usually like to see what everyone is up to). Being able to be present and focus on your family is a big deal and it’s a good reset every once in a while (I’ve even considered leaving social media for good, but I’m just not there yet).

I think the biggest thing that I notice after weekends like these, is that the following week I pick up my phone a lot less. I feel set free, and I don’t feel the need to be looking at my phone all the time. I try to mostly use my phone when my daughter is sleeping, which is also my only down time. I waste so much time on social media that I don’t end up getting much down time after all.

If that sounds like you, then jump on board. We don’t NEED to be on our phones 24/7. Work doesn’t NEED to have access to you 24/7. Take a breather. If you are really brave and want to take this one step further, you can also make it a tablet and TV free weekend. I have not tried that yet, I am just dipping my toes into the water, but maybe you’re ready to take the plunge! I wish you luck and SO MUCH peace when you go to try this out.