Its OK to Disconnect
This past weekend, I talked to a large group at church about the fast paced lives that we live today. One of the points I made was that living life in fast-forward without regular times of solitude, reflection, and deep soul care, can lead to many health risks related to stress.
This past October, an article was published by the American Psychiatric Association that stated that Americans are, “stressed out, can’t sleep, drinking too much, and its getting worse.”
Their study showed that 48% of Americans say that they are more stressed than they were 5 years ago.
This stress leads to all kinds of sickness
- Lost sleep
- Obesity
- Heart disease
- Diabeties
Could the answer be as simple as the pace of the lives we live?
We all know that the information that is available to us is growing exponentially. We are being engaged through email, cell phones, and IM. The number of decisions that we have to make each day is growing. It seems we are all living life in fast-forward.
So how do we break away and get some solitude?
1. Limit your availability.
- It is ok to turn off the cell phone and computer for a while. In spite of popular opinion…turning off your electronic gadgets will not cause a part of you to die.
2. Limit distractions
Set boundaries for distractions
- Check email at set times. Turn of email notifications. Feel free to use an “out of office” to inform others of your email times.
- Only watch preplanned television. Plan ahead (with your family if need be) what you will watch. Do not just surf channels.
- Don’t just surf the internet. Have a purpose when you are online.
- Use commute time (if you commute) to think and reflect.
3. Limit work
- We work to make a living..but do we actually take time to live?
4. Limit responsibilities
- Plan ahead. Set your priorities by determining what you value most. Then fit other commitments around those priorities. Learn to say “no” to things that do not fit your “mission statement” or “life’s purpose”
- Do not take responsibility for someone else’s irresponsibility.
After the discussion, a young man approached me and said, “I really hope these people listened to and applied what you had to say today, because everything that you said is true.” He then began to share how a year ago, he had a nervous breakdown as the result of his fast-forward life, and has been on disability since.
Take some time today to plan some solitude and relationship building.
Jason
Thanks for the great post, Jason. It’s always good to remember this sort of thing.
Great article. I happened to spot it earlier when I wandered by to check out the new theme (nifty).
Oddly enough, it hasn’t yet came across Google Reader…
I totally agree with what you wrote. Unplugging is not only necessary, it’s fundamental to surviving life.
Over Christmas vacation I had a similar experience to your post and it is one of my most popular blog topics - Reflections of a Productivity Seeker. Taking time out to REflect and REgroup keeps you REnewed. And there is nothing wrong with that!
Useless and pointless channel surfing has recently become a big problem from the lady and I at home. I think because our work lives have become stressful, so it is like “hiding” to sit and veg out in front of the tube.
But this usually happens when we are heading off to bed, so we end up staying up way to late watching pointless stuff. We never watch in the living room.
We are thinking of removing the TV from the bedroom, as an attempt to remove that temptation.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
@Brad…its essential to living to decompress from time to time. Good luck on Mysterious Flame!!!
@Chris…The feed has actually changed. Here is the new feed…http://feeds.feedburner.com/BlackBeltProductivity
@Jeff…Thanks. This is something I face regularly too. I do not always do the best job of helping myself in this area. So from time to time, I simply need a day to decompress.
@Austin…I’ve been there. I like the idea of removing the TV from the bedroom.
Nice to see your efforts get placed into a location with the ability to be read and appreciated by others. It was a joy to listed to you teach this past week. See you soon!
@Dave…Thanks, my friend. I enjoyed it too. Thanks for the kind words.
Jason,
Good stuff. I agree completely.
You need to disengage from the day to day if you’re going to make any headway on your projects, your goals….your dreams. You have to allow yourself time for deep thought.
There has also been a real movement towards personal productivity applications on the internet. An example is On Track - apps.facebook.com/ontrack - which allows users to add goals and projects online and track their progress.
Oops, I should shut down my laptop where I am just surfing vaguely, then turn off the TV that I am flicking through the channels on, go to bed (it’s after 12) and find time for the life part of the work life balance!
So your saying that the best way to now “live” our life is by pre-planning everything we do?
I’m afraid I don’t subscribe. I have had many incredible experiences and productive journeys that have come as a direct result of not “having a purpose” when surfing the internet.
I have new hobbies, interests and productive skills from which TV has been my inspiration, and not of the pre planned TV variety.
Im going to think twice before packaging myself in this strange hyper-planned was of life. “today at 5 I plan to relax, and disconnect.” I can think of nothing less relaxing, and entirely connected.