DAILY DIGITAL DETOX: A Steemit Community Life Series & Reminder | E.42 | Intentionally / Regularly Unplugging + My Quick Engagement Poll To You!

in #life7 years ago (edited)


I have taken this subject pretty seriously over the years. You need time offline.

Regularly & Intentionally. For lots of reasons.


THE DIGITAL DETOX SERIES OBJECTIVE SERIES CONSTANTS:


My plan with this series is to intentionally remind you, daily to get offline, give your brain, eyes, soul a break and time to reset and remind you that relationships with people can suffer if you are always on your phone and not PRESENT -- in every sense of the word.

The irony of bringing this series to you online, asking you to get offline, on an online blogging platform, is not lost on me.



There have been limited studies done on some of the effects of this digital hold on our lives and they are concerning to say the least. Social media use appears to encourage some of the following negative effects, some of which we hear about regularly now:

-- Narcissism

-- Screen time/white light/activity appears to be causing insomnia/broken sleep cycles (circadian rhythm)

-- Detached reality making our society and kids less empathetic and in touch with reality

Results from the few studies that have been done are troubling. Social media appears to promote narcissism, smartphones could be causing insomnia, and screens seem to be making our kids less empathetic.

Earlier posts in this series covered that in more detail.



TODAY'S DIGITAL DETOX TIDBIT:


FIND YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA FIX - In Real Life / IRL

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Identify / isolate the particular apps or sites you spend most of your time on and ask yourself why you feel drawn to them, an expert says, and create a way to find and satisfy that craving or satisfaction IRL

If you feel inspired by artsy photos on Instagram, spend time at an art gallery with a friend.

Maybe fitness blogs are your thing and you can organize an outing, hike, climb, yoga session or run with your friends.

And when the urge to post a photo arises, make your own “Instagram filter,” the same expert suggests:

“Make a frame with your fingers, and take a mental snapshot of that sunset or beautiful bouquet for yourself, not your followers.” -

It really can enrich your experience. “Science shows that when you engage with a moment with all of your senses, you’ll be more likely to remember it later on,” he explains. “The same recall doesn’t occur when you’re too busy snapping photos.”


Sources show the avg. adult now spends about 8.5+ hours online every day. A good portion is at work or looking at a screen.

Give a long hard look at where you are spending the bulk of these waking / working hours, with regard to your workstation/chair and posture, just like you need a good bed for all the sleeping hours!



Find a Digital Detox buddy as was mentioned earlier to do these things with, it helps to have support in place for little things like this.

Support and accountability again.



I've blogged here and in the past about this, but new people are finding the posts, or searching online, so I am saying this again today because it is VERY very important:

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Switch OFF or to Airplane Mode During Breaks or Workouts:

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Unless you are using an iPod or no device during workouts or lunch breaks.....(both are good ideas) - chances are like most - you use your phone to listen to music. Yes, music has been proven to improve your mood etc. during workouts but think of it.....

-- stopping mid- exercise all the time, to answer a text or social media notification is terrible and stealing your experience, tech break and focus from you, as well as lowering your heart rate, which is key to working out in the first place. It can wait an hour.

This is an easy way to take back your Digital Detox freedom and stay in the zone, and focused on YOU and what you are doing, during a work out or even doing nothing..... taking a complete break for your lunch break etc.

--

A constant tip is change 1 habit at a time, so I will keep this in the series.

Reminder: (see past posts) -- Try to use proper, healthy posture techniques always and be purposeful about this.



http://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/posture-for-a-healthy-back

Stick with it and make notes daily about how you feel doing this! Share thoughts with a friend or 2!

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I don't embed my sources like "professional bloggers" -- 9/10 times -- people don't click the sources anyways, let alone hover the cursor to even check quickly, and this way, they can SEE the sources / url's -- that's what I prefer myself anyways, so if i get flagged, I get flagged, I am trying to appeal to the masses here.

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It is more than just unplugging intentionally as I call it -- it is a return to some societal values that we have abandoned in favour of having all the access to data and online resources we have -- a shift is required. However:

Intentional Unplugging as I call it -- is a huge and necessary step.


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As a reminder of what we see daily in the PHYSICAL realm of problems, here is a graphic showing the damage of the neck and spine as it relates to pounds of pressure looking downwards all the time:

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(Sorry this is grainy but I enlarged this 2x, so you could see it better. This is right from the Ontario Chiropractic Association (hard to read but that is the source) -- and I wanted this unedited, it was a jpeg and resizing those means less quality)


Don't Risk a Crash in Your Health!

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My Community Engagement questions to you, today, if you have read this far are simple and will evolve over time:

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-- Did you INTENTIONALLY "unplug" or stay offline this week? How many times? Give yourself 1 point for each day in your reply!

-- Did you unplug with a family member / friends intentionally this week and thus CONNECT to them meaningfully? If yes, give yourself a point!

-- Have you realized this is a problem in your life, because that is the FIRST step! If so - 2 points for you!

-- Are you aware of this problem around you and your friends and family and have you addressed it with others? If so, you get a point also! ( Note I have always used the word "addressed" in this series, some people confuse this word with telling others what to do.... this is not the same thing. Dialogue with others is the goal. Awareness.)

-- Did you put your devices in another room at dinner time and at bedtime this week intentionally? That's a point each time, champ! List it! Think on it!!

--

Please tally up your points, list it in a reply and please open up about how you feel about these issues in your life and the world today!!

Why??

Because this is a Community Resource and I care and we are all in this together. None of us are getting out alive.

That is the end of today's post in this series. I wanted to cover all the basics in the Series constants, as usual, for all the new people reading this post for the first time,

If you are still reading -- thank you very much and have a nice day. I hope something here helps you.


Thanks for reading, have a nice day.








If you liked this blog post - please Resteem it and share good content with others!

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Some of my recent blogs:

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https://steemit.com/freedom/@barrydutton/n86qr-liberty-and-philosophy-of-the-day-from-my-personal-activism-files-left-right-paradigm-of-lies-government-corruption-the-police

https://steemit.com/colorchallenge/@barrydutton/color-challenge-thursday-green-or-outside-one-of-my-daily-city-hall-protests-again-liberty-picture-and-philosophy-or-government

https://steemit.com/freedom/@barrydutton/liberty-and-philosophy-of-the-day-from-my-personal-activism-files-left-right-paradigm-of-lies-government-corruption-the-police

https://steemit.com/freedom/@barrydutton/2donas-a-key-to-success-no-matter-what-be-the-best-version-of-you-a-day-at-a-time-some-thoughts-from-a-guy-that-actually-cares-inspired

https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@barrydutton/bitcoin-price-update-btc-smashes-back-thru-the-usd4299-usdusd-mark-today-usd5252-usdcad-sept-27th-2017-or-total-crypto-market

https://steemit.com/life/@barrydutton/color-challenge-wednesday-yellow-or-outside-one-of-my-daily-city-hall-protests-w-a-beekeeper-friend-or-liberty-picture-and

https://steemit.com/life/@barrydutton/liberty-meme-and-philosophy-of-the-day-government-corruption-the-police-state-broken-governance-monetary-systems-and-the-strong

Most Images: Gif's - via Giphy.com , Funny or Die.com / Pixabay. Today:



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Please note -- I will have limited internet access for awhile -- so PLEASE do not be upset that I cannot reply right away, or to everyone. I am dealing with some changes, and will have limited time online and will be happy if I get a few blog posts up a week.
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once it happened that i deactivated my facebook account just to get out of the addiction of it, and my phone started to ring like hell - most of my friends thought that something had happened to me, and some even thought that i've blocked them! - I had to reactivate my fb account, but i've hardly used it since, for, in my opinion, unlike steemit, it serves no 'actual' purpose unless you have a business to promote on it// in today's world, if anyone doesn't have a fb or instagram account, people start to think of him/her like a freak - like there's a rule or something like that. Most of the people want to just scroll and scroll, and don't want to actually learn something from the internet. That saddens me a lot. We are starting to forget that internet is a place overflowing with actual knowledge and information and we are getting more reluctant to get those little by little - and it is harmful and alarming - we have to realize that social media isn't the main purpose of the internet - it's more than that.

Great post sir

You posted your comments 30 seconds after this went up, did you bother to read ANY of it ????

M reading this post sir

This post recieved an upvote from minnowpond. If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowpond on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond

wow..
let me Resteem this post, thank you @barrydutton

I agree that we are definitely in a technology age, and more and more individuals rely on their cell phones, etc. to get through the day, especially our youth. Do you think there are any practical solutions to this problem, aside from the common sense ones, like just cutting your device off?

Well, I have 41 episodes of this series up with tips in each one, so........

Oh okay. I'll have to check it out. Which way do you think is the most effective of the 41?

It happens every 15 minutes while running, that a notification comes up and i stop running, then start all over again to pick up that pace 😢😢😢

Just say no.

LOL

I agree with you and it is unreal how much people are glued to their devices. When I'm at work, I leave my desk to go into my warehouse to work for a while which is PC and phone free. When people can't contact me by email or phone a search party goes out.

#SteemitCampfire post is up on my page / Weekend #22 buddy.

Did you get up to Michael Kelly's yet for a meal on Winchester?

I was there again tonite for salad and pizza

(:

The usual sassy brown eyed waitress was not there but the one we had was just as good, just different.

I haven't made it up yet but it's on my to-do list.

I hope you get the sassy brown eyed waitress LOL

She knows about my blog!!!!

I am an evangelist for liberty and crypto now, not enough people are listening over the years still.

-- you may also like the latest ACTIVIST POST from my archives just up now also. LOL

I love the irony of using social media to warn about the dangers of social media. You are a true renaissance man! (you should add that to your titles) Thanks for showing myself and especially my lady some STEEMIT love!

Enjoy your down time homie!

Hi @barrydutton wow i am surprised indeed that been online most especially on your smartphone it can really cause narcissism which will develop and become insomnia and also the screen of those smartphones seem to be making our children less empathetic,perhaps i do agree with your that its not healthy to stay online moreover with this technological device of this day and era since they can cause a dispire in our normal sleep,standing posture and our general healthy at large,as for me i will surely take some time offline inorder to reduce chances of indulging in insomnia and other related issues originating from Digital Detox Tidbit,lastly thank you sir for your post and keep posting such informative healthy posts on Steemit.

Thanks David --- I really hope this series helps people.

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