Unplug

I’ve spent the past few days in Chester with Ju. The first few months of the year have been hectic; Ju with her new job and me with a busy work schedule. So we decided to get away for the weekend. It was a spur of the moment thing which is unlike us. We usually plan things months in advance.

I decided I wanted to completely unplug. I left my laptop at home. I deleted Facebook, Twitter, Slack, and games from my phone. My only ‘tech’ device was a Kindle. I started reading Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.

You might think that sounds quite insignificant. And perhaps you’d be right. But the last time I fully unplugged was our holiday in Mexico some 14 months ago.

The past few days has reinforced the importance of disconnecting. I believe creating space and margin in our lives is important for being creative and doing our best work. The brain needs rest. And while I recognise the importance, I suck at it.

The draw of social media and email is too great. It’s a 5 second reflex away. A quick glance fires the dopamine rush my brain so craves. It’s an addiction. And I’m addicted.

Two things have come from our short weekend break. First, I want to take more weekend breaks. I’m convinced a change in environment is healthy for the mind. Secondly, I want to find a way of unplugging more regularly.

I don’t have anything specifically planned out. I’m thinking of giving up all electronic devices every Sunday (with the exception of the Kindle and TV). That means no social media, no email, no Internet. I’ll write about how I get on 🙂

But for now, I have a great book to get back to…