How to disconnect – in a connected world.

Most people would say they have their phone in their rooms as an alarm, so this is a simple solution! You will be less likely to look on your phone before going to bed, if you can’t sleep throughout the night, or before you get out of bed in the morning, if your cell phone is in another room. We don’t have a landline phone at our home, so keeping your phone close enough that you will hear it ring in case of emergency is suggested, so maybe across the room on your nightstand? The point would be to keep it away so you aren’t tempted to go on it. Literally, disconnect your phone from beside your bed and put it somewhere else. You can also download a cool clock app and get a cellphone stand & charge station to put on your nightstand or get this sweet alarm clock.

 

Give yourself time to slowly wake up your body and mind. Enjoy your quiet time and your coffee without filling your head with the stresses of the day already. I find I am able to grasp my attitude for the day & have a clear idea of what I truly want to accomplish before distractions come in and start to change what I was hoping to do. I also assume if there is an emergency that needs to be dealt with asap, you will receive a phone call.

 

It’s easy to go into a social media tailspin when you are checking it any free moment you get…it’s very easy to get lost in photos & articles. I suggest carving out half an hour in the morning, half an hour in the afternoon and half an hour at night (as an example) solely dedicated to browsing your social media accounts. Even as a blogger it is so hard not to be continuously checking it, but unless you are doing something time sensitive – the same photos and information will be there later in the day, you most likely won’t miss out on anything.

 

If you are like me, Pinterest is your cookbook – it’s the easiest way to have thousands of recipes at your fingertips with whatever ingredients you have, usually with step-by-step photos…could cooking be any easier? here is something to be said about getting your sticky fingers on the pages of a recipe book while you work out each step.  This will also ensure you are focusing on reading the recipe and cooking the food instead of scanning the web while you wait your onions to sweat. I have been trying very hard to cook more from a cookbook than Pinterest (okay – maybe it’s more like 80/20 in favour of Pinterest, but we all have things we need to work on right!)

Here are my two MUST-HAVE recipe books right now:

 

 

 

Though the art of writing letters has all but vanished, while typing and LOL’ing has consumed us, we still need to fight to write ‘the old fashioned way’. Whether it be writing down lists (instead of a List App) or writing your newest blog post on paper first (if you’re a blogger)…we can still keep this lost art alive! Use post-it notes again, start journaling or journal in an actual notebook. Refine your handwriting again!…do they still teach it in schools??

 

I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to disconnecting from my electronics…but we gotta start somewhere right!? I hope this list can help you like it has started to help me!