Going "Unplugged"

Living on the net is a wonderful thing, but once and a while we all need to “unplug” for some time offline. I know that for me personally spending time on the internet is both a rewarding and draining experience, and it’s nice to step away from all of that every once and a while and live without the wire. There is a problem though: how do you unplug yourself in the current world? With all of the devices we carry with us on a daily basis fighting for our attention, flashing notifications, sounding tones, and vibrating nonstop, how does a person simply step backwards out of the electric pollution to clear their head? Here’s how I do it.

The most important thing to me is understanding the purpose of each of my devices. My laptop is for work, my phone is for communication, and my tablet is for entertainment. It’s important to me that I don’t blur those boundaries and therefore keep all of the notifications on my tablet off. As an entertainment device I really have no interest in it alerting me to new e-mails, or letting me know that the other FTI guys are having a Hangout over on Google+. Normally when I’m using my tablet I’m lying in bed closing out the day and none of those things matter to me anyway – so why have them bother me?

That leads into my next tip: I have my phone set to automatically go into silent mode at a certain point each night (usually around 10:30 but if I work till midnight it’s set to 12:15). Some people choose to turn their phone off at night, but I don’t want to completely lose the ability to communicate that my phone provides. By turning it on to silent mode it stops grabbing for my attention for every little email, text, call, and tweet, and instead allows me to control when I access that communication. I found that once I started turning the phone silent it was much easier to relax at night; I could sit back and relax, read, game, or do whatever else I wanted to do without feeling like I had to grab at my phone every time it made a beep. After a couple days my mind stopped actively listening for the beeps too, cutting down on those “did my phone just go off?” moments and helping me to relax even more.

By combining these techniques I’ve been able to stay connected to people during the right time, remain connected in the event of emergencies, and still find time to unplug and relax when it’s that time. What techniques do you have to relax a little during your day? Do you ever find yourself wanting to be “unplugged”? Let me know in the comments, hit me up on Twitter @CallChrisNow, or e-mail me at chris@chriscall.me and let me know. I’m always looking for useful tips and tricks.