19 Dec Unplug this Christmas with our #PresenceNotPresents Digital Detox Challenge
Our #PresenceNotPresents digital detox challenge returns for Christmas 2017! This challenge is all about spending meaningful quality time with loved ones during the festive season and recharging your own batteries for the year ahead. We’re all guilty of being on our phones while chatting to friends and family from time to time and not giving them the attention they deserve. This year, give them the present of your presence and spend Christmas Day and Boxing Day offline.
3 Tips for our #PresenceNotPresents Digital Detox Challenge
Going offline can be daunting, but it’s actually very refreshing! Here are three great tips to help you succeed in your digital detox challenge this Christmas:
#1 Keep your devices out of sight
Taking time offline is a lot easier if your devices aren’t lying around to tempt you. Switch them off and put them away in a drawer (preferably in an office, or somewhere you won’t be spending much time over Christmas!) Instead of mindlessly turning to your phone when bored, you’ll have to actively locate the drawer and open it to find your phone. Hopefully, you’ll soon forget all about it!
#2 Tell your friends you’re going offline
Social media and instant messaging have created a sense of #FOMO (fear of missing out). Being anxious about missing out on news or updates (however boring they might actually be) is one reason some can be hesitant to try logging off. To combat this, ensure you won’t be missing out. Tell your friends you’ll be offline for two days because you want to recharge and enjoy some family time. It might just encourage them to do the same! And after all, do you really need to see another smug picture of someone else’s Christmas dinner? We think not..
#3 Initiate meaningful conversation
While we’re more connected than ever, we’re actually sharing less meaningful conversations. Think back a hundred years and people wrote letters. Not texts, not half finished sentences filled with emojis, not brief emails, but handwritten letters brimming with thought and care. How often do we skip awkward conversations in person and save them for text instead? When was the last time you found out something new about a friend or family member in person, and not through their social media updates? Reflecting on our digital habits in this way can be quite revealing.
To help you succeed with your digital detox challenge this Christmas, actively initiate meaningful conversations with loved ones and ask them about their life. We find on our retreats that, without the distraction of phones and other digital devices, our guests connect with each other on a deeper level than they perhaps have with their friends in a long while. This realisation is what digital detox is all about and we hope it will help you seek better balance with technology in the New Year.
Join us and enjoy a break from the online world this festive season. Give the present of your presence and nourish your closest relationships, while recharging your own batteries. Let us know how you got on with the challenge afterwards using the hashtag #PresenceNotPresents. Good luck and Happy Christmas!
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