While an increase in technology is useful and does make life easier at times, it also makes life more stressful at times too. When your computer freezes up, or your internet won't connect, your phone dies... it can really ruin your day fast!!
I have recently discovered one area of technology though, that gives me more stress than any other. My smart phone. I love my phone! I will willingly admit that I have an addiction to my phone. I struggle to put it down. However, I finally discovered something that has given me a measure of freedom and a slight reduction in stress!!
One of the best things I have done in the last few months is start turning OFF my notifications on my phone. Every ding or vibration or little red number in the corner of an app telling me there is something that I haven't yet seen makes my OCD tendencies take over. I can't concentrate or rest until I see what the new sound is about or until I clear every last red notification off of every last app.
A few months back my life got so crazy that I decided to take a break from Facebook for a while. It was just stressing me out!! I deactivated my account and I deleted the app off my phone. After almost 2 months, I logged back on, but I did not put the app back on my phone. After a little while longer, I downloaded the app again, but I turned the notifications off just for my Facebook.
I only logged on when I decided to, not every time my phone dinged at me or showed me a notification. That was bliss y'all!! I mean, finally, I was controlling my social media instead of letting my social media control me. I stopped worrying about what I was missing and realized I wasn't really missing anything!! Everything was still there when I logged back on.
This made me think about other things that would pop up on my phone. Do I really need to know every single time an email comes in? No, because most of my emails are junk mail that gets deleted anyway. Not many are legit to begin with.
Or how about all those game notifications? I have a few games that I do enjoy playing on my phone, but is it necessary for me to know the very minute my lives are refilled or what today's special deal is in game coins and gems that I am not going to buy anyway? No!!
Then there was other social media like Pinterest. I LOVE Pinterest, I really do!! But the only notifications I really ever got from Pinterest were telling me about friends new boards or pins that I might like. I almost always just cleared the notifications but never really looked at the suggestions.
I kept considering all of my notifications over time. As if this moment, the only notifications that I leave on on my phone is my phone calls and my texts messages. That is it y'all.
I have discovered that not only do I not miss them, I am saving time, energy, and my sanity by just getting onto whatever I want to on my own time. Not anyone or anything else's.
It's bliss!! Seriously!! If you are like me and feel a desperate need to keep your notifications clear and to answer things the minute you get them... give yourself a break and just see how it feels!! Try it for 30 days!! Then come back here and let me know how it goes for you!!
The holidays are a great time to trim your electronic media exposure!! Spend more time with family and less time staring at your phone screen! Try it out!! You might just like it!!
#30DayChallenge
#TimeToRefocus
#TakeYourLifeBack
#SomeThingsCanWait
