“Put down your phone. Pick up the kids more,” I told myself on Friday.
Because ‘tis the season…
To be present …
To give joy …
To feel love …
To keep things in perspective.
On that note, I have decided to disconnect every weekend of the holiday season in order to savor every magical moment with my loves. (If you join me tag #UnpluggedMOM on Instagram in posts every Monday discussing what difference it made/ what you learned by unplugging!)
Personally, I originally planned to unplug from Christmas until the New Year (and still want to). On Friday, however, though I had off from my full-time job, I worked on a video project all day long. I’m talking 10AM until 5PM. I went to sleep feeling guilty.
I felt like I’d taken too much time away from the boys. I worry they have been seeing me on my phone too much. So while I was falling asleep Friday night, I decided I’d unplug from Instagram (since it’s what takes up most of my cell use) all weekend long. Then, I woke up and decided I want to do it every weekend because it’s such a special time of year. (My big hope is I will do it most weekends of the year!)
Unplugging from social media is difficult, though, especially when it’s a form of employment. But I knew I wanted to do it. Here’s how I unplugged:
1) I decided to unplug.
2) I publicly announced I would. I did this both to let others know and as a way of holding myself accountable.
3) I moved my Instagram app to the last page of my home screen so I wouldn’t be as enticed. (I didn’t delete it because I didn’t want to lose my saved drafts as I have in the past.)
Briefly, here’s what I learned:
1) Social media takes away too much of my attention from my boys, and they do not deserve that.
2) Without it, I am able to get much more (SO much more) done.
3) If we all were not as attached to social media as we are, there wouldn’t be such pressure to be on social media (or FOMO when not on social media) and thus, there would not be such a need to unplug.
4) There can be a balance. I don’t have to check my Instagram DMs 10 times a day or mindlessly scroll my feed even more than that and still, I can still get work done.
5) The more intentional I am about my social media use, the less of my time it will take and the more I will get out of it. And the less guilty I will feel.
So, will you join me in unplugging to reconnect this holiday season? Let me know if you do!
