Moments of Musing

A Personal Pause

Filed Under: motherhood, unplug, Unplugging //

Dad, sons, dad and sons, family time, great pause, unplug, nature, hiking, family hike, poconos

We are off the to the mountains. I see this as an opportunity to reset. It will be my time to unplug, be present, and enjoy the moments.

You know those moments? The candid, real, raw, unstaged, unphotographed moments? I feel like I’ve missed out on some lately as I find myself overwhelmed by all that’s going on. There is just so much. It seems like there’s information overload, and not all of it is even true. There is debating, there is selfishness, there is racism …  and so many people are losing their loved ones during this time. Its sad. It’s frustrating. It’s a lot.

As a nonprofit employee , self-care isn’t as simple as just turning off the news or not going on social media, especially when your organization’s work is related to all that’s going on and social media is part of my job. Therefore, it seems the only way to truly make myself tune out was to take time off. I need it. My husband needs it. My kids need it. They have been such troopers during this time.

So during this Great Pause I have decided that I too am taking a bit of a personal pause and will be on social media, especially Instagram, a lot less. I will post to stories more because they’re in-the-moment and don’t require editing or writing deep captions, which take longer than you probably think.

I just want to enjoy all the moments I can with my loves.

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How I Worked Remotely —and was Still Present on Family Vacation

Filed Under: family vacation, travel with kids, unplug, vacation //

Last time we visited Puerto Rico (two years ago), I made it a point to unplug for the most part. You can read about why I wanted to unplug and how I unplugged here. This vacation, I simply could not. I worked remotely and so, I had work that had to be done. I did try my best to not let my work interfere with family time, though. 



Here’s how I was able to work remotely and still be present on our vacation:


1. I got as much work done in advance as I could.

Since I knew I would be working remotely, I planned accordingly. I did as much work as I could in advance. When I did have to do work, I did most of it after my husband and kids were asleep. It meant a couple late nights for me but that was worth it to me. Regarding smaller tasks, I took a few minutes each day to do them (since I planned most ahead it didn’t take much time during the day). 


2. I limited my work to my full-time job.

I prefer unplugging on family vacations. Therefore, I wanted to limit my phone time as much as possible. In order to do this, I took a break from and paused my blog / Instagram sponsored work. That being said, I did photograph some (non-sponsored) content but it was casually done during our days, not photo shoots or anything, and photos I’d normally take if I wasn’t a content creator. 


3. I limited my photo-taking. 

Of course, I took many photos of the boys. But as I previously alluded to, I actually took less than I thought I would. You’d probably be surprised. I shot most of my content for Instagram and my blog the first day (which is why I’ll be in the same rainbow swimsuit in most photos). After the first day, I did not take many photos of myself. I focused on the kids and on family photos but even then, I tried putting my phone away after I completed my work tasks. Do I wish I took more photos? Slightly. Do I regret not taking more? No because it means I was more present rather than behind the lens during the memory-making moments. 


‘Tis the Season… to be Present

Filed Under: motherhood, tis the season, unplug, Unplugging //

“Put down your phone. Pick up the kids more,” I told myself on Friday. 

Mom and baby, mommy, baby, Christmas lights, Christmastime, tis the season, unplug, New York christmas


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!