The Power of Unplugging

To start this off, let me give you a little backstory on how I discovered the power of unplugging for a day ...

The first date I can recall actively leaving all of my technological devices off for an entire 24-hour period is January 21st, 2016. This was my 22nd birthday, and the 1-year anniversary of my cousin’s death.

It was quite a shock to lose a young family member (only 30 when he passed) ... and having him pass away on my birthday only added to my grief. I spent the first few anniversaries not celebrating myself -- how could I, knowing that my aunt is heartbroken on this day? (She cried every Wednesday for the first year, because he passed away on a Wednesday.) It was especially important for me not to do anything celebratory that first year -- it was so late at night when he passed, I didn’t receive a phone call about it until the next morning. So I wanted the first anniversary to be a day for people to acknowledge him, not me.

You can't really explain this to 200 Facebook friends -- “Please don’t write on my wall this year, I’m not celebrating myself.” (I guess I could’ve done that actually ... I got smart the next year and just hid my birthdate, and the year after I made it so people couldn’t write on my wall.) I warned a few family members that day -- for example, I didn't want my Mom phoning me and thinking the worst, so I let her know my plan.

I was also living in the same house as my Grandmother that year, who would’ve tried to make a big deal about everything, and I just was not in the mood to handle her. The only thing I could think to do was to lock myself in the master bedroom (since my Dad went to Vegas that week) with some food, a couple of books, a notebook and some pencils. My laptop and my phone were turned off for the entire day.

Of course, I shed quite a few tears for my cousin, but I knew I couldn’t uncontrollably sob all day. You can't be productive after too much crying. (Anyone else experience the aftermath of hours of uncontrollable sobs? Puffy aching eyes, massive headaches …)

I also knew that my cousin wouldn’t have wanted me to spend all day in mourning. So the majority of my day was spent trying to honour him, by using this distraction-free time to hone my craft (writing).

Although this all started for a completely other reason -- I didn't just take a tech-free day for my writing; it was an escape from people and circumstances -- I discovered so much value from doing this. To be honest, I haven't done this as often as I should've been since this day; 4 years later, I've had maybe half-a-dozen tech-free days. I wanted to start doing this once a month ... 2021 will be the year I try this!

I learned early on in my life how to amuse myself … or so I thought. As I’ve gotten older, I realize now that social media is not always a great form of entertainment, and really it’s not me amusing myself but rather me seeking out external distractions. Going tech-free is the only way to truly amuse yourself, to have zero (or near-zero) distractions which allow you to work on your creativity.

It wasn’t until this year, through my journey to design a daily creative lifestyle, that I learned why tech-free days are so important. According to Liz Dean, author of How to Be Creative: Rediscover Your Creativity and Live the Life You Truly Want, we need “mild, intermittent boredom” in order to be creative. “Boredom allows you to be yourself in a more relaxed, quietly creative mode. Reducing stimulus to our brain allows us to recharge.” In other words, stepping away from technology gives us to space to self-entertain, or to be mindful and aware of the world around us. With a complete tech-free day, I can get so much done -- with my writing, or any creative outlet!

By taking myself away from the laptop, shutting off my handheld devices, and ignoring the world around me, I create an atmosphere where I’m constantly asking myself “what’s next”. This is one of my favourite feelings in the world -- it’s unknown, but it’s not a scary unknown. It’s mysterious, and exciting (once you get past the mild boredom).

I encourage everyone to try a 24-hour cleanse from technology, just once … just to see what happens, to see what creation can come about in a day.