You Can Turn That Off and/or Put It Down
The power of disconnecting the tech that equally divides and connects us.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Ever feel like there are too many connections, too many demands on your attention, and an endless sense of go-do-go? Do you ever feel like you can’t get away and you seldom find peace?
I do. It’s not an all-the-time, highly regular occurrence. But there are plenty of times when I’ve felt if I didn’t stay connected or made time to check on friends and family online – even when I needed to back away – I was somehow disrespecting them.
It often feels like we are all too connected. Social media is so prevalent in what happens, that groups and organizations, personal and professional, rely on them to pass messages, share info, and more. It might even start to feel like you have little to no choice because if you don’t connect you’ll miss out.
This is where the cutesy notion of FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out – is not so cute. It turns into a destructive, disempowering, distressing sense that can easily make you feel unwanted, undesirable, and unconnected.
However, the truth is it’s utterly healthy for you to disconnect. It’s tremendously positive and good for your mental health to turn that off and/or put it down.
Let’s take a look at why.
The connectivity disconnects us
The reality of the technology we have, plus the workings of social media, is that it doesn’t connect us nearly as much as it divides us.
The impersonal connection has taken precedence over personally connecting. People post things online to share who they are and what they’re currently doing. But then, comments can take that to all sorts of undesirable and unpleasant places.
If they posted something that can be at all divisive – say supporting one politician or another – that can turn ugly, fast. Before you know it, a whole aspect of that person you thought you knew is gone.
To some degree, this can be good. People’s true colors will come through. But to another, this can create echo chambers of confirmation bias and cause misunderstandings that can do all sorts of harm. It gets pretty crazy pretty fast.
What’s more, social media is usually a snapshot of a moment in time that somehow gets treated like the end-all-be-all for this, that, or the other thing. People get bent out of shape when response times are slow, people seem to not be paying attention, and the like.
As much as this technology provides unprecedented connectivity, it simultaneously disconnects us.
This is a huge part of why it’s good and positive sometimes to turn that off and/or put it down.
Turn that off and/or put it down
It might seem, on the surface, super obvious. Yet it has become increasingly less so. When you’re feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and like you have too many demands on your time, energy, and attention? Turn that off and/or put it down.
Turn off the computer or TV. Put down the smartphone, iPad, or similar device. Pause, reflect, disconnect. Just be.
You don’t need to take a weekend off, a week away from Facebook, or a month off TikTok. Take 5 minutes. Turn that off and/or put it down. Walk away. Be free and in the moment, here and now, wherever you are.
I don’t need to be available 24/7. It’s unnecessary to check, recheck, and scroll Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media site every time you sit down. The world doesn’t need frequent or even regular updates about where I am, who I’m with, and/or what I’m doing.
Realizing this can be incredibly freeing. For many people, smartphones and tablets have become tethers or leashes. Stray too far from them and risk suffering dire consequences.
How dire? Realistically, not at all. Despite their invention in 1992, smartphones and this level of connectivity are barely 30 years old (the first iPhone, which arguably started the current generation of smartphones, came out in 2007). Ergo, not so long ago, you weren’t available all the time.
Disconnecting the tech that equally divides and connects us is a major boon for your mental health. In this crazy, nonstop world, sometimes you just need to turn that off and/or put it down for your overall sanity. Maintaining your sanity – and all the self-care related to that act – is enormously positive. Doing so says you and your time are of value, and not dependent on the wants and needs of the world around you.
Taking the time to turn that off and/or pit it down isn’t hard
It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.
When you recognize and acknowledge that you don’t need to be always connected and available 24/7, and that you can take a mental health break and step back without dire consequences, you can choose to turn that off and/or pit it down. Knowing that the world will keep turning, that you can pause for your mental health by turning off, putting away, and setting down the technology, you take charge of your life and where/how/why/when you connect to people, no matter who they are. This is incredibly important for your mental, emotional, and spiritual health, wellness, and wellbeing.
This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.
Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. With a broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.
Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.
The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, it can spread to those around you for their empowerment.
Thank you for coming along on this journey.
This is the five-hundred-and-fifty-fourth (554) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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