Disconnecting is HEALTHY!
I want to make a bold statement. We live in one of the most stressful times periods. While most of you reading this, live blessed lives in terms of living in amazing homes, having phones that can be compared to miniature computers, and never having to worry about food, we live in a world with different types of stresses. We live in a world surrounded by constant stimulants.
Our bodies and minds weren't made to be constantly "connected". Those tiny computers we carry in our pockets are always vibrating and ringing at all the notifications we receive in a day. Since my iPhone received latest update where I could seen my screen time, I know exactly how many notifications I get on my phone in a day. Even though I have notifications turned off for a lot of things, on average, I still get over 100 notifications a day! Luckily, I have my phone on do not disturb mode on, because if not my phone would vibrate every. single. time. Not only are those vibrations/rings distracting to whatever you were doing at the time, it also an extra stimulant you honestly don't need.
While technology has done amazing things to us, we also have to admit, that if not used correctly, it can do terrible things to our mental health. The fact that we are basically slaves to our phones definitely doesn't help. We get a notification on our phones and read for it almost immediately. We're constantly scrolling. It's more mentally exhausting than most people realize!
I will never forget that whenever I go on a cruise, I come back extremely refreshed. It could be because of the fact that when you're on a cruise, everything is basically done for you. I think it's because you're completely disconnected from reality. In addition to that, you're disconnected from technology. Not getting daily notifications from text messages, email, and social media, leaves you using your time and brain power in a positive way.
You're at a place where your only job is to unwind, relax, and have fun, it's great that you can't compare your fun times to someone else's. You can't see what your friends, family, or other social media influencers are doing while you're on your trip. You're just living your life without all these external influences.
I spent the last week, not posting on Instagram, spending minimal time on my blog and other social media sites, and I feel more relaxed than I have in a while. For the first time since I started blogging, I don't feel guilty for not posting. I have spend the past two years almost posting 2-3 times a week consistently (with the exception of 5 posts where I skipped). While blogging has been an amazing experience, and I don't expect to stop anytime soon, it's really exhausting to be in this active online.
Like I said in the beginning of this post, our brains were not made to be constantly "connected". It's okay to be away from your phone for a day or even a week. It's okay to not spend a whole hour on Instagram, endlessly scrolling and comparing yourself and your life to others. I would go as far to say, that it's healthy to allow yourself to disconnect for a bit.
If you can't go on a cruise, you can always just turn off your phone.
-Melina xx
(I hope you guys get that this last statement is just a joke)
I love how refreshed one feels after being off social media for some time... disconnecting is totally worth it
Georgina| https://georginawangui.com
I love how refreshed one feels after being off social media for a while... disconnecting is totally worth it!!
Georgina| https://georginawangui.com
I'm glad you agree with me! Thanks for reading and commenting Georgina 🙂 xx
Taking a week off my blog last week felt so amazing! Not in a way that I want to quit blogging but it's important to take time off to disconnect from everything. I forget exactly where I heard it but i was watching the news and a researcher said that even seeing notifications on your phone can negatively impact your mental health because every time you see that notification icon or your phone vibrates it essentially "schedules" your brain to check it at some point. Even if you ignore it it's still there in the back of your mind until you look at your device next.
I always feel strange without access to the internet but after a day or two I adjust and don't really miss it!
omg, that totally makes sense! I have my phone on do not disturb so my mind doesn't know I have notifications, It helps loads! I feel like less of a slave to my phone. Thanks for that tidbit of information! I had no idea. Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂 xxx
I've been trying to look at my phone less and leave it on don't disturb too, but it's annoying when I misplace my phone and can't call it because it won't ring haha xD
If you have an iphone (prolly android has a similar feature), you can put certain numbers on your favorites! So if any of those numbers call you, then it rings like normal! Like I put my closest friends and family on there, and if any of them call, it cancels out the do not disturb mode :)!
I don't think I could do that just because I work in a news control room, so if my phone went off during a show that could be very bad depending on if we have a reporter hit in there lol. But I would absolutely do that if I wasn't a news person!
Amen! I recently deleted my Facebook (again) and I am loving the FB free life right now. I still keep Instagram and Twitter, but I definitely don't go on it as much as I did with Facebook. I love not being tied down to my phone and enjoying the present moment and the things and people around me.
I don't really use facebook, it's much too many social media sites for me aha! I do have a fb page for my blog, but everything automatically goes on there, so I don't really spend time there! It's so much more freeing to have the least amount of social media pages possible! Sadly, I can't get rid of twitter and instagram (I love it too much!). Thanks so much for reading and your thoughtful comment 🙂 xx
I 100% agree! Our brains literally react to everything throughout the day whether we notice it happening or not and all those notifications just add to the info we're constantly processing. Not to mention like you said what goes on inside our phones. That's a whole other story! I think I actually need to spend more time on social media because I've taken more than my share of breaks from it and blogging but I truly see the value in putting our phones down and actually living and enjoying life while we have it. Love this post and your insights on life! Always on point... xx
Thank you so much. You wrote such a thoughtful comment, and said it all so beautifully. I have literally almost taken 3 weeks from posting on instagram. If I want to post a story, I will, but I definitely have taken off the stress of trying to post all the times. I will get back into it hopefully during christmas! Thank you so much for reading and commenting ! x