Join People All Over The Nation (And World) In A Pledge To Disconnect.
Usually, holidays have a way of knocking us off track, providing plenty of those tempting opportunities to procrastinate and break every bad habit in the book…
But that certainly doesn’t apply to our new favorite holiday of the year, the “National Day of Unplugging.”
Since it’s just about to start, we figured now would be a great time to give a shout to all our FocusMe followers who might be looking for the added motivation of a more organized effort to stay on track.
There’s plenty to unpack when it comes to NDU 2021. Let’s do a quick rundown of what it is and why you should jump on board with us this year.
What Is Digital Detox Day?
It all started with Dan Rollman, the founder of the Sabbath Manifesto, and an artist named Jessica Tully who came up with the design for the nifty Cell Phone Sleeping Bag (I’ll get back to this in a bit).
The creators decided that what the world needed was a 24-hour break from technology every single year to promote awareness of the overwhelming presence of technology in our modern lives. So they decided to start spreading the word for a National Day of Unplugging on the first Friday of every March. That’s from sunset on March 5th to sunset on March 6th in 2021.
It’s a chance for schools, businesses, religious groups, and individuals to take more control over their digital habits. To become more conscious of how and how much they use their digital devices and promote a more healthful balance and more deliberate online connections.
Why You Should Put Digital Detox Day On Your Calendar This Year
(As if we don’t know already…)
The big picture is still somewhat foggy on just how much all our cell phone use will affect us over the long run, but just take a look around you at any moment and you can see how much technology is crowding out good ole’ fashioned living.
This year things are worse than ever with the pandemic and people being locked down at home. We’re more isolated and disconnected than ever, even while technologies that were designed to connect us more are all around us.
Medical News today reports a wide range of potential issues even from more short-term digital device overuse, including problems with eyes; depression; bad posture; sleep disorders; and health issues associated with the decrease in physical activity like obesity, cardiovascular, diabetes, and even premature death.
Children specifically experience poorer performance, low attention, subdued creativity, increased symptoms of ADHD, language problems, stunted social and emotional development, increased aggressive behavior, addictive tendencies, and higher BMI.
A Few Stats To Get You On Board
One 2017 study of young adults reports that people who overuse social media are three times as likely to feel socially isolated!
There are also some frightening stats on this page here called ItsTimeToLogOff.com.
A couple choice examples include a claim that adults in the UK are on their screens for an average of 8 hours 41 minutes a day, and a report from Australia’s National Broadband of a 70-80% screen-time usage increase during covid lockdowns!
So What Should You Do On Your Device-Free Day?
You should DEFINITELY make the most of it, so here are some ideas to get you started…
- Organize your own party or event to get your friends and family on board. You could also involve the community or get your school down for the cause!
- If you work or study online, practice working without being connected. Are there documents you can print out or other work tasks you can complete while online? You might find working disconnected puts your productivity through the roof…
- Spread the digital fasting love and help this movement grow by buying (or making) “National Unplug Day” cards to mail to your loved ones. If you own a business, you might even get some marketing value out of promoting this day while promoting your business!
- Just disconnect from the digital world and get outside to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. A lot of parks are open now, depending on where you live, so take advantage of this movement by going for a hike or hitting the beach.
- What about gathering with friends outdoor for a potluck picnic, a scavenger hunt, or a game of softball?
- If you prefer to stay indoors (or have no choice due to lockdown or weather) divert your time into indoor activities time has forgotten, like playing board games, reading, writing in a journal. You could even do all these things in a 24-hour period and really catch up for lost time!
- Just reconnect with friends, minus the phones and devices. Notice how many lunches with friends are spent with your smartphones held up between you? Social interaction just isn’t’ what it used to anymore, and many young people are losing the skill of conversation as a result. Try it without the screens for a change!
- Do some yoga or meditation. It’s amazing how one good session can spark a great daily habit…
- Get romantic! Our love lives get interrupted by as much phone time as our friendships these days. Why not plan a digital-free date or day with your partner and spend time really paying attention to each other? Or heck, even if you’re single, this could be a great excuse to get someone you’re interested out on an interesting first date!
- Take an art or dance class and learn something you’ve been putting off for too long…
How FocusMe Can Help You Unplug This Year
If you’ve grown a “psychological umbilical cord” to your smartphone or computer with all this usage and aren’t sure you can control yourself even for a day…
…Well, let’s just say we totally get what you’re going through!
In fact, FocusMe’s productivity software is designed to fight that problem. If you download a free trial of FocusMe, you can set it up to completely lock you out for the entire 24 hours, so cheating isn’t even an option.
Of course, we believe digital detoxes are a good idea to work into your life on a regular basis (with FocusMe you could automate it on a weekly basis). And our software is also designed to improve digital habits in multiple ways to promote healthier online habits and stay more focused when you’re on your devices.
Our tools include a lot of cool features that allow you to lock yourself out of specific digital distractions, set time limits on usage, and even get convenient stats on how much you’re using problem causers like social media or video games.
Here’s A Helpful Video To Learn More:
Try A Free Trial of FocusMe Now!
The best way to find out how helpful and easy-to-use FocusMe can be is to download a trial run now.
Go to https://FocusMe.com to grab a download now.
Hope it helps, and meanwhile, have a great digital-free day this Friday!
I’d say we’ll see you then, but as for us, we won’t be online. 😉
