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I am not sure when being connected 24 hours, seven days a week became a thing but slowly over the last few years, our reliance on our mobile phones and particular apps has increased.
Many of us go through quite high anxiety if anything happens to our phone. We imagine the information we could potentially be losing. Essentially a lot of us run our lives through these little devices.
On a recent retreat that Anna Stretton has just launched called Te Atawhai, it became apparent that I am far too connected to the outside world. The anxiety I went through just to get to the retreat put me in the hospital overnight.Yes, I must be the only one in the world who has had to be hospitalised because of a plan to take four days off!
I took a holiday from all devices; I didn’t think I would survive but I found a new appreciation for all that unplugged time. The retreat opened my eyes as to how much time I spend just on Social Media alone.
Later, to find out exactly how much time I spend on Social Media, I downloaded an app called Offtime. It helps you see how many times throughout the day you check your device, as well as how long you are spending on each social media platform.
What an eye opener – even on my days off I was spending far too much time checking my phone! One of the great assets to Offtime is that it can help you take dedicated time out. You can set the phone to shut down for a period while you work on other things.
Setting Offtime up over the weeks allows you to see your daily habits and helps you make changes.
In business (as well as personal life) it’s really important to disconnect. You have to take charge of those devices and set boundaries. Let your staff know when you are unavailable.
One of the best things I ever did was to change the settings on my phone when I received an email. Now it never beeps. Set yourself rules such as to only check your emails three times a day. Believe it or not, this will actually help with your productivity.
Take digital sabbaticals over the weekend. Put your phone away and check it only twice a day for 10 minutes at a time. You will find you spend a lot more time getting out and about and looking up and out, rather than staring down at a screen.
