Are You Too Connected?: 5 Ways to Take Technology Breaks

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So there I was in my cozy living room and Ryan Gosling was undressing right in front of me! Then if one were to pan over to me you'd see me sitting there looking at a friend's Instagram feed on my cell phone completely ignoring Ryan, every girl's dream scenario right? Wrong! Lately I've noticed that I'm always connected, if I'm not looking at my Facebook and replying to messages on there, I'm tweeting another message, responding to email messages, or posting a message on a friend's Instagram, always all the time. I mean who the heck was this person? I was always the person who made it very known, usually with an eye roll and a follow-up comment "you know it's rude to be checking up on your phone while we're talking." I even would rant to  my Ma that NO ONE knows how to communicate properly nowadays especially man-boys, "ya he texted me back to make plans...text, texxxxxt hello pick up the phone like a grown up adult! On to the next!" However I started to morph into that "Busy-New Yorker-I-Always-Have-Something-To-Do-And-Talk-To", (sorry for all the quotation marks guys) or whatever people who always feel the need to feel connected are called. Life was happening, whether it was watching Ryan Gosling disrobe in Crazy Stupid Love or reading a book in the park or having a lovely dinner with friends, life was happening and I was missing it to...check my email!

So I decided that I needed to make a plan and slowly morph back into my living in the moment self. I went hiking with my friend Cam the other day and being so disconnected to the internet world and so connected to the world in front of me was like a breath of fresh air, so I decided I needed to create my own hiking moment everyday.

1. Set an alarm for gratitude: Every morning when I wake up now I pray, you know to God to thank him for everything he has done in my life, to bless my day, family, etc. Of course you don't have to pray, you can just show gratitude for things in your life in any way. Oprah states that "the single greatest thing you can do to change your life today would be to start being grateful for what you have right now and the more grateful you are, the more you get." So thinking about what's in front of you rather than online will remind to stay more connected to your life, at least it has for me.

2. Schedule disconnect breaks: Take 1 hour outside of work to completely disconnect by partaking in a physical activity, for me it's logging in time at the gym or on my yoga mat. But to make the commitment even stronger go to a space where electronics are not allowed to be used! This can come in all forms, reading, cooking, or taking up a hobby, the point is to disconnect and nurture yourself.

3. Vow to keep technology out of sight in face-to-face conversations: Whenever I get to a restaurant or coffee shop I put my phone on silent and zip it into its pocket in my purse and don't even try to look at it. Even if I feel it vibrate I ignore it. Being on the phone while someone is making time to nurture your relationship is totes innaprobes. Also, make it known to whomever you're speaking with that it bothers you when they jump on their smartphone. It's always important to communicate expectations and your needs to people who are important to you and I think that even means for how you carry out the small free time you both make to see each other.

4. Don't bring technology to a meeting: I used to check up on my email in a meeting then I realized how equally rude it was to do so even though it was not an intimate one on one conversation also I wasn't fully focusing on the task at hand, so I applied the same rule here. Personal interactions = technology free time.

5. Don't keep up with social media at work: This is STILL really hard for me to do. Whenever I go on my lunch break I'd hope on my phone to just refresh my feed and see what my family and friends are up to however I'd get caught up and realize 30 minutes had gone by! So keeping to this rule just helps me stay fully focused on what I have to get done and you know...actually eat my lunch!

I'm still working on these but setting up these boundaries has really helped me to get back to well, me and refocus on Ryan. ;p 

*NY Times article on the toll of technology.

*A related Love, Taza blog piece on disconnecting to savor precious moments.