My husband and I just returned from a two-and-a-half-day marriage getaway during which I was technology free. It was so nice to take a break from blogging, websites, email and Facebook to focus on my husband and to enjoy relaxing activities together. I appreciate your patience as I was “absent” from the blog.
I am always happy to find that after a break from technology I am more at peace, as well as being better able to think and handle stress. It is especially helpful to me when there are so many negative items in the news (and links to them on Facebook).
I have decided to make regular tech-free breaks more of a priority and I may even institute Tech-Free Sundays like a friend of mine has. During the day on Sunday, no one in her family is allowed phones, video games or computers. They do activities together like picnics, taking long walks, playing board games and reading together. I haven’t made Tech Free Sundays a priority, but I think we may institute at least one tech free afternoon soon.
Have you had a tech-free day recently? Do you take a break on a regular basis? Leave a comment.
(Email readers will need to click through to the blog to leave a comment.)
Make Money for Christmas!
Click here for a complete list of The Peaceful Mom’s recommended survey sites to start making a little money online.
A couple of weeks ago we went on a 5-day “Device Diet” vacation at a resort in the North woods. It was a family reunion and at some other cabins they were still using their iPhones and all, but our immediate family did not, and we did not even allow iPods in the car on the way there. DD10 panicked and thought she would never be able to fall asleep without her audiobook, and told me I was the meanest mom in the world. Still, we held fast, and she read an entire novel on the drive there, and fell asleep to the sound of crickets, and everyone missed their technology but it was very cleansing, too. I’m going to adopt Beth’s word “technoliday.”
Good for you for sticking to your word even though your daughter didn’t like it. Those times are so hard, but it is so good for our children to see that boundaries are real. I am glad you had a relaxing time.
I had an unvoluntary tech free night yesterday. I forgot my iPad at work and was left with my smart phone and my iMac. Since my desk chair is quite uncomfortable, I couldn’t be bothered to do more than edit my budget with the latest data.
That was such a quiet and relaxing night… 🙂 Will repeat it soon!
A “mistake” that turned out to be a good thing– love it!
We don’t have a set schedule for technology free days but I call moments (even daily) that all electronics need to be turned off and we read, cook, play, or just enjoy the quiet. I find the day is longer in a good way and a lot more productive. I would not want to totally get rid of technology but I like to set healthy limits of too much or too little of anything is not good :0)
Well we are getting rid of Internet for cost reasons but I’m actually really excited! We don’t need the Internet so it’s just a major distraction for us. I’ve really struggled with being distracted by it all day so this will help!
I know what you mean about being distracted by it. I get way more done by setting limits on email and Facebook.
We take tech breaks from time to time, and our family calls it a “technoliday”. (tech + holiday). It always feels like the day is longer without tech.
Do you feel that you have more time, or that it is longer in a bad way? 🙂
Honestly, sometimes a longer day is wonderful and sometimes it is just tiring. 🙂
By the way, I like your name “technoliday”.
My boyfriend asked me repeatedly to turn off my iPad/ smartphone/ computer. But I always refused. It’s really tough to see how much time we waste on these stupid things 🙁
I do not post or comment on either of my FB pages on the weekends and I also take regular, but not scheduled breaks from FB, twitter, etc, whenever I feel I need them. This is not a paying job for me and it’s very time consuming. It’s also easy to let it skew both your priorities and your perception of the world around you. It’s really important to step away and remind yourself about the important stuff.
I think reading together as a family is great thing. Around here is usually is me that reads and my partner in on his tablet on the web.
I would love to go Tech Free – unfortunately? My husband travels for work and calls about six times per day, so it’s not really an option for me.
(Although I do try to have one day a week where I avoid anything but his phone calls. It’s harder on my little one than it is on me!)