It's amazing what a few days in the woods and out of service can do...
I didn't know how badly I needed a break from it all until there I was on the trail.
Before I left on last week's backpacking trip, I was anxious and exhausted. My mind was hyper-active, unable to relax. But as soon as we were a few hours into our three-day, two-night backpacking trip, all of the worries just sort of faded away. My Dad, Kory, Arrow, and I enjoyed alpine lake dips, mountain views, pine forest hiking, and cooking dinner in the dirt. We got rained on one night, but that just added to the sense of adventure.
The simplicity of the experience and quietness of nature got me thinking about life in our postmodern world. With technology's constant flow of information, it's easy to become overloaded with inputs from the moment we wake to the moment we sleep. Whether that's the next horrible breaking news story, your friend's exotic vacation to Bali, the newest health craze in app form, a TikTok of the cutest dog, or incoming texts, no wonder it's hard to live in the moment and enjoy “what is” these days.
To be honest, I think that's why I was feeling so overwhelmed pre-backpacking trip. All of the inputs were building up and I just wanted to escape. How are we supposed to live our lives if we are constantly being bombarded with information?
Well, I know one answer. We've got to put our phones down. At least, for some of the time.
Now more than ever I believe it's essential to step away from technology and give our minds a break. But I realize not everyone may have access nor availability to a backpacking trip. So here are some other ways I plan to implement regular technology detoxing:
5 Ways to Detox from Technology
- Turn off all notifications from apps on your phone.
- Put your phone on airplane mode at 8pm nightly, keep the airplane mode on while you sleep, and don't turn it off until you've finished your morning routine.
- Implement scroll-free Sundays. No social media on Sundays!
- Delete addictive apps from your phone, like Instagram and TikTok. (I delete Instagram for at least one weekend per month).
- Put your phone in a drawer while you complete important tasks.
It's crazy how simple these sounds but how difficult they can be to implement.
xx,
Gianna
