Today is International Wellbeing Wednesday and this year’s theme is Disconnect to Reconnect. We live in a time where we are more connected than ever before, but yet life in our digitally switched on age is extremely stressful. According to a report by Ofcom we now spend on average 24 hours a week online, which is twice as long as 10 years ago. Plus one in five of all adults spend as much as 40 hours a week on the web.
Apparently us Britons are now so addicted to our smartphones that we check them every 12 minutes. The constant interruptions that technology can bring to our life, inevitably is starting to take a toll on our wellbeing and our relationships. This is why this International Wellbeing day we are encouraging people to tune out to tune back in to themselves and their environment. Take a moment to disconnect so you can reconnect.
4 ways to take a break from the screen and reconnect
- Leave your phone at home or in the car! Next time you go out to meet someone why not leave your phone at home or in the car? The phone will just distract you from giving your friend or relative the attention they deserve so remove the temptation and keep it completely out of sight!
- Unplug for the day. Why not try switching your wi-fi off for a day? Use the time to go old school and play a board game, pick up a book or even write a letter to someone.
- Choose to get active! When you choose to get outdoors and do hands on activities you choose to connect with your environment, your bodies and your friends. There is no time for checking social media when you are riding a bike or playing football so why not choose tech-free activities to disconnect.
- Have a phone free dinner policy. This is one of our pet peeves. There is nothing worse than sitting at a dinner table where everyone is on their phones and no-one is talking. Put the phones in a bowl before dinner and have a rule that they stay there until everyone has finished. The art of conversation is dying and dinner time is the perfect time to reconnect with people and find out how their day has gone.
Throughout the course of the next week we will have lots of content and tips on our emails, blogs and socials all about how you can start to disconnect from technology and reconnect with yourself and everything around you.
For more information on cutting down time spent with technology please see the links below:
https://www.stress.org.uk/6-reasons-youll-benefit-from-a-social-media-detox/
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