Devices are great – they let us work remotely and stay connected. The concern is… how many times have you tried to take a break from work, only to end up scrolling emails or social media and feeling even more drained?

Yeah, let’s fix that.

Today, I’ll share realistic tips to help you unplug properly AND set healthier habits for your use of technology (that won’t get you fired or lose all your friends).

How big is the problem?

Because our devices are always within arm’s reach, the idea of ‘unplugging’ can feel pretty unnatural.

After all, the average American spends more than 11 hours per day staring at screens. In fact, a recent study shows that a person touches their phone, on average, 2,617 times a day. Yikes!

Why unplug though? It sounds boring

Thing is, our lives should be embellished by technology, not be lived through it. Being glued to our devices has some seriously scary implications for our well-being and productivity.

Firstly, there are the obvious side-effects. Digital devices emit blue light, which is known to mess with our natural sleep cycles and cause digital fatigue. You probably already knew that.

But you know what’s scarier? Device addiction affects the way we think about the world.

Studies suggest that the rise of smartphone use has literally altered our brains, leaving us with much shorter attention spans and poorer memory spans.

PLUS, spending our lives glued to a screen means we’re ignoring the other thing in front of us: the real world! Countless gurus and spiritual mentors have linked mindfulness to happiness.

Mindfulness is all about being wholly present in the ‘now’ and noticing the little things around us.

If we’re able to unplug properly, we’re able to reconnect with life. Question is – how?

3 Ways To Unplug Yourself Completely

Digital detoxes can be very powerful. That’s when we physically remove ourselves from our devices for a period of time.

So to start with, here are 3 realistic ways to unplug completely, even in our modern lives.

1. Schedule in weekly offline time

For one evening every week, try switching off all your devices. No phones, no computers, no tablets, no cameras, etc. For example – maybe you decide every Saturday night is screen-free. With that, make the most of your time. Read a good book, cook something with a loved one, journal or revisit your self-care plan.

Dedicating an intentional evening to being offline is a great way to really zone into that activity, guilt free.

2. Instead of lounging and browsing – take a walk.

The next time you take a break, resist the urge to just grab your device. Instead, move your body and get out of the house. Walk the dog, walk to a park, or just stroll around your neighbourhood. Many studies, including a recent one done by Stanford University, suggests that walking can boost brain power.

You can also treat it as a mindfulness practice. Try a walking meditation, or simply give your surroundings your whole attention.

3. Take an off-the-grid weekend

If you can, organise a weekend every few months where you go completely off-grid. Let your clients and family know that they won’t be able to contact you and leave your laptop and tablet at home. Once there, switch off your phone, and focus on relaxing or spending quality time with others.

It doesn’t need to be a 10-day silent retreat. A weekend out of town in a nice Airbnb out in nature can leave you equally refreshed and reset.

7 Tips To Get A Healthier Balance With Your Devices

Unfortunately, many of us depend on our devices to work and socialize, which means we can’t always ditch our devices whenever we feel like it.

However, here are some everyday tips to help you use technology in a healthier way.

Tip #1. Designate a technology-free zone in the house

If you can’t go off-grid, bring the off-grid to you by creating tech-free zones within your home.

Move all your devices and chargers into a dedicated room, so you can’t charge them next to you. That way, instead of reaching over to grab your phone – you’ll have to physically haul yourself to the next room.

Tip #2. Use hacks to makes your devices less hypnotic

It’s not by accident that our devices and apps are so addictive. Everything about them – from the colors they use, to the sounds they make – is designed to grab our attention. However, there are small things you can do to beat their jedi mind tricks:

Tip #3. Track your screen time and set goals

Many devices have an inbuilt feature that lets you track how much time you spend on them. This is great for tracking which apps you’re wasting the most time on and setting goals or limitations. For example, setting a limit of a half hour of YouTube a day.

You can also set limits on your internet browsing habits. Browsers like Chrome will let you block certain distracting websites – here’s how to set that up.

Tip #4. Buy a separate alarm clock

If you’re using your phone as your alarm clock, it’s way too easy to start each day by checking your notifications and social media from bed.

To disrupt this habit, I recommend buying a separate alarm clock and charging your phone in another room. That way, you can wake up and jump straight into a healthy morning routine without getting sidetracked by TikTok. Instead, you can do some exercise, meditate or stretch.

Tip #5. Go on a social media diet

Social media is one of the biggest time-sucks on the planet. You open up Facebook for a quick peek. An hour later, you’re watching a video of some guy leading an army of chickens into battle.

Not to mention, social media usually just results in us feeling crappy about ourselves. Try and make an active effort to reduce your time on there. You don’t need to delete your Facebook account, but you can…

The more inconvenient it is to log in, the less you’re going to do it automatically.

Tip #6. Don’t work while you play

Unplugging from our devices isn’t just about escaping silly distractions. It’s also an important part of work-life balance.

Devices can make it much harder to ‘switch off’ and stop working. We may find ourselves checking emails on weekends or replying to client Slack messages at stupid hours. But when you don’t define the lines between playing and working time, how can you ever relax?

The answer? Set firm boundaries for yourself between work and play. For example, no checking mails outside working hours, muting your Slack notifications on weekends, or making sure to turn on the out-of-office auto-responder. Don’t forget to politely inform clients of your working hours to manage their expectations.

Tip #7. Make sleep sacred

Lastly, make sure you’re prioritizing sleep and recovery.

Many people like to create a power-down routine that gets them off the devices a few hours before bedtime. If you really need to use your devices, you might want to look into blue light blocking glasses, as studies have suggested they can help increase the production of melatonin in the evenings and get you a better night’s sleep.

Lastly – try and charge your phone in another room so you don’t scroll in bed (devices are a huge driver of revenge bedtime procrastination).

Lastly – Ditch the guilt about needing to be ‘always on’

In this day and age, when everything is happening in real-time – it’s easy to feel as though we NEED to be constantly connected. It’s important to try and really question this ‘fear of missing out’.

Ask yourself – is the world really going to end if you don’t respond to that email until morning? What’s the worst that can really happen if you don’t reply instantly? In most cases – the urgency and pressure to be ‘always connected’ is something that we self-impose and tell ourselves.

Your brain is like a muscle and needs recovery time. The next time you switch off your phone – instead of feeling guilty, remember that taking downtime is an investment.

‘Unplugging’ is not laziness or antisocial behavior – it’s often the best thing you can do for your well-being, and your work.

The post The Art of Disconnecting – How to Unplug From Your Devices to Fully Recharge Yourself appeared first on Bitcatcha - Online Presence DIY.

You’re slumped in your seat, staring at your computer screen. Nothing’s coming to mind, no matter how hard you’re willing your brain to just work.

Don’t be too hard on yourself – everybody (yes, everybody, from Bill Gates to that star employee in your office) has bad days like these, where motivation feels like a fleeting memory of the past.

The good news? If you’re here, you’re already one tiny step towards a more motivated frame of mind.

In this article, I’ll be outlining some of the ways you can pull yourself out of a slump, maintain a healthier drive, and maybe even go beyond that!

How To Get Motivated (Even When You Don’t Want To)

Maybe you’re pulling yourself out of a slump. Maybe you just can’t stop procrastinating. Either way – breaking the cycle and taking those first few steps towards ‘motivation’ can often be the most difficult part of the process.

Don’t worry! More often than not, demotivation isn’t the unmovable mountain that it might appear to be. A little bit of strategy can go a long way, as I’ll show you.

1. First things first – what do you ACTUALLY want?

We all know that when it comes to goal-setting, SMART goals are the way to go.

They may sound cliche, but a SMART goal really is powerful. Why?

The long and short of it is because it eliminates lots of causes for demotivation. If your goal is too unclear, general, or unattainable, chances are you won’t be able to muster up the enthusiasm to stick to it.

Here’s a quick example.

A goal that’s simply to ‘be productive’ is very difficult to visualize.

However, with the SMART goal guide, we can identify the specifics of the goal, which makes it much easier to tackle. A SMART version of this goal could be: ‘By the end of this working day, I want to complete a report and draw up a rough outline of an event proposal. I’ll put on some relaxing ambience in the background to help me focus better.’

If you’d like to dive into more details on how to set SMART goals, here’s a useful video by Khan Academy:

2. Work out what you’re getting out of it

Sometimes, setting a specific goal just isn’t enough to get the ball rolling. This is where rewarding yourself comes in.

In this section, we’ll be touching on two kinds of rewards: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Most of us would be familiar with extrinsic rewards. This is when we reward ourselves with something desirable after we’ve completed a goal. It can be as big or small as you like. For instance, freelancers might just treat themselves to a smoke or coffee break after they’ve completed a specific task.

Extrinsic rewards are generally useful for goals that you find unpleasant, such as filing tedious paperwork or ditching an addictive habit.

On the other hand, intrinsically motivating rewards are the parts of your goal that you find to be enjoyable in and of themselves.

For instance, as a writer, I personally really enjoy the process of stringing together beautifully written sentences – so that in itself is an intrinsic reward for me.

Any part of your goal that you enjoy could be a reward on its own.

Customer-facing employees who enjoy meeting new potential clients can use that as a reward for being productive, whereas dog lovers could use walking their dogs as a reward for driving up their step count and keeping fit.

Reflect on your goal and pick out the best kind of reward for it, or use a combination of both.

3. Take it S-L-O-W and start tiny

One last thing to remember is that when it comes to sparking motivation, it’s the little things that count. That means that even with a SMART goal and awesome rewards lined up, you still might not necessarily feel that motivated.

This is when you start breaking your goal down to itty bitty pieces.

Yes, we’re talking actually minuscule, and almost seemingly inefficient, actions.

For instance:

While these might all seem like small and almost inconsequential steps, they all serve a greater purpose – which is to prime you to be more motivated later on. When you’re in an unmotivated state, it’s easy for a goal, no matter how attainable, to feel out of reach. Breaking your aim into tinier chunks often makes it much easier to start.

Another little tip would be to throw a timer into the mix. A simple 2 – 5 minutes of working on a task can often slowly get you into the flow of things.

Remember, getting out of a slump takes time. Little steps like these, alongside setting proper goals and rewarding yourself, all go a long way towards helping you find your motivation again.

How To Maintain Your Motivated State

Now that you’ve stoked the fire, it’s time to fuel it even further!

4. Find accountability partner(s) to keep you in check

Accountability partners are exactly as the name suggests – they help to keep you accountable throughout your goal-achieving journey.

With a strong support system or even just a group of people with similar goals to you, you’ll find it easier to stay on track and even bounce motivation off each other.

For this, you could call up close friends, family members, or even colleagues that you think might want to achieve similar goals. Signing up for relevant courses, or events in your area can also be a great way to meet other like-minded folks.

Another way of finding accountability partners would be through the good ol’ internet. From online forums to specialized websites, there are almost endless resources for you to tap into.

A few examples would be Focusmate, which matches you with a buddy for a period during which you would like to stay focused; StickK, which uses behavioral science-based data to keep you accountable to your goals; and Habitica, a website and mobile app that helps you ‘gamify’ your goals. In fact, we’ve written a whole piece about how gamifying your life can trick your brain into being productive.

5. Fake it until your body believes it (yes, really)

Did you know that your physiology also plays a part in helping to maintain your motivation?

It’s true! In fact, there is a whole branch of psychology dedicated to studying motivation, and what drives us to change our surroundings or ourselves.

In an article by Positive Psychology, one theory in particular states that your physiology affects your behavior – and ultimately your drive.

Think about what your body normally does when you’re motivated.

Generally, you’d be sitting straight, shoulders thrown back, and you might even lean slightly forward out of your chair. Support your motivation by imitating your physiology as you would be when you’re feeling enthusiastic.

If you’d like to take it a step further, you can even throw your arms out, jump a few times, or perform any action that gives you that burst of positivity. This way, you can literally shake yourself into a motivated state.

6. We all have bad days – try and power through!

Alright, full confession – motivation tends to ebb every so often.

Think of motivation like a spring; when it rains, it can come flooding. But when it’s the dry season, morale can dry up.

During the times when motivation is less forthcoming, it’s important to remember this and not beat yourself up over it. Then, just power through it. Do what you need to to get through the day or the few hours you’ve allocated to achieving the goal.

If you aim to streamline your working process, try chatting with a colleague/accountability partner to see how they do their work. If you’re looking to plow through work emails, sit a little straighter, and put on a timer and some of your favorite music. Then, reward yourself with a coffee break or a bite of that cheesecake you bought during lunch. Be kind, but firm with yourself.

Motivation can be a flighty master. On days like these, just hang on to things that have worked for you the past and power through to the other side.

7. Beyond motivation, it comes down to building habits

What if I told you that there’s a way to ensure that you’ll never need to muster motivation for a goal ever again?

It comes down to us humans being habitual creatures. And just as procrastination can become a habit, the opposite can also be true.

If you manage to keep at your goal day-in and day-out, you might find that you’ve unknowingly started incorporating it into your life as a habit. In other words, it’s now a driving force in your daily life. And it’s through repeated actions, where big transformations can happen. This could apply to anything – from adopting daily workout sessions, to gradually becoming a morning person.

Before you know it, you’ll have conquered your goal and beyond, and can reach for a fresh new target.

Wrap Up: Get Yourself Motivated And Stay There

Life is too short to let little spurts of demotivation sway you from achieving your dreams.

Well, what are you waiting for? Start up your phone timers and begin working on your goals!

The post 7 Effective Ways to Get Yourself Motivated (Even When You Can’t Be Bothered) appeared first on Bitcatcha - Online Presence DIY.