The joy of a digital detox

Hey, did you miss me?! Quite possibly not, and I have to admit it’s been lovely to have a ‘proper’ holiday these past two weeks. 

Last week we headed to Lake Garda, Italy, as a family, for some much needed RnR and I guess a little family ‘babymoon’ before number 3 arrives next month. The weather wasn’t amazing apart from 2 days of glorious sun, but it was SO nice to unwind a little, properly play and hang out with the children, and get away from the humdrum of day-to-day routine. 

Whilst I’ve got a couple of posts coming all about our trip to Lake Garda with Eurocamp, I think the thing that has been at the forefront of my mind has been the joy of a digital detox and what pleasure it was whilst we were away. 

Sporadic wifi. 

The feeling of not HAVING to get back to anyone instantly.

No constant buzz of social media in the background (however much I usually love it!).

Being REALLY present around the children, chatting, perfecting card games. 

Not getting sucked into the “just give me one minute” spiel when responding to an email that, frankly, really isn’t that important.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never felt that guilty about using my phone as a parent as I feel confident that we do bloody loads for our kids, and it doesn’t hurt them to actually wait just a minute sometimes. But I was more surprised in the difference not having my phone attached to me (or even turned on some days) made to me. 

Quelle surprise I felt calmer, less wired, read more books and I dunno, cared less about all the waffle in my phone, so much of which is just noise and isn’t necessary. Ironic, you may say, as bloggers can be the worst at contributing to this noise, but I think it’s made me want to be more selective now.

One evening when the weather was crap, the kids were in bed, and Adam was catching up with some football on his (working) phone, I literally sat there, tired out from a lovely day walking and biking with the children, and stared into space.

For 30 minutes.

And it was heaven!

My mind felt like it was really letting go of working, online life, house move and renovation stuff, admin bollocks…for the first time in ages.

So on my return I unsubscribed from blogs/pages/people who in the nicest way possible don’t float my boat, and choosing when and how I read stuff. I’ve decided to go kinda cold turkey on my phone- deleting my FB app (eek!) to prevent mindless flicking through news feeds, and also leaving my phone upstairs more when I’m pottering away downstairs. 

I absolutely love working in blogging and digital marketing, but like many things can become all-consuming, so I think having a breather every now and again from it all can be soothing for the soul. 

Doing nothing can be good, and I fully intend to enjoy doing more of nothing in the run up to baby number 3’s arrival next month. 

 

What about you? Are you in need of a digital detox or do you think you have a good balance? I’d love to hear your tips about how you unwind, or what your favourite ‘nothing’ activity is!

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6 Comments

  1. Jen Walshaw
    May 11, 2017 / 7:52 pm

    Our wifi (or wiify) as they call it in Spanish failed when we were in Mallorca and as it was Easter everything was closed. Our enforced digital detox was bliss!

    We are having signoff Saturdays or Sundays each week and it makes such a difference.

  2. Mummy Times Two
    May 11, 2017 / 8:08 pm

    A brilliant post and one we could all learn a lot from, I think we are all guilty of being less present than we should be at times. So glad you had a great holiday.

  3. May 11, 2017 / 8:17 pm

    I have started thinking about maybe taking a half-day off a week, which doesn’t sound like much but I think will feel like loads as I have become so accustomed to being on my phone all the time.

  4. Jenny
    May 11, 2017 / 8:44 pm

    I think it’s so important for a digital detox I love that word by they way such a great way to put it. It sounds like you had an amazing time I have always wanted to go to Lake Garda. It’s on my list. lol Can’t wait to read all about it too. Glad you had some quality time off. I am in need of detoxing soon hahaha America here I come! #parentbloggerthread

  5. May 11, 2017 / 9:25 pm

    I really need to have a detox more often. It sounds like absolute bliss! x

  6. May 18, 2017 / 11:34 am

    We’ve had a couple of digital detox breaks in Cornwall and I loved it. It was so good to enjoy time as a family and everything our holiday offered without having to worry about capturing it for social media or blogging. Not to mention time away from admin and work in general. To be honest, I think we could do with another one soon! Good luck with your streamlining! xx

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