Love Unplugged

Okay, so you should totally get it by now. Love is in people, not things.

It’s amazing how much time you get back when you decided to unplug from your smart phone, iPad, internet, laptop or other thing-a-ma-jig, even for a little while. With that time, you can plug back in to activities you love, people you love and go places you love. You give them your full attention without all the distraction. Check out these interesting ways people struggled and succeeded to disconnect for their technology and plug back into real life.

Find out what happens when five neuroscientists completely unplug from all their technology to take a week-long trip rafting down the San Juan River in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah. There’s zero cell phone reception. Email is completely inaccessible, and laptops are left back at the hotel. What started out as an experiment to study how technology affects attention, memory and learning, revealed more interesting things about human interaction and how time actually slows down when we unplug. Who couldn’t use more time?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/16/technology/16brain.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Cold Turkey

The New York Times asked readers to commit to ditching one or more electronic devices of their choice for at least a day and up to a full week. One participant who gave up his cell phone and internet for seven days said the time he spent unconsciously using gadgets was like eating invisible calories. He didn’t know how much time he was actually spending until he had a reason to count the minutes. One woman saved so much time, she painted her entire kitchen! Another found a reason to personally engage more with friends. Some felt liberated and some struggled, but it’s interesting to see it’s a challenge that’s tougher than you think. Could you do it? I dare ya.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/08/02/technology/unplugged.html?ref=technology

Creativity: Now There’s an Idea!

Check out this short but powerful post by journalist, Toby Rogers, on how a smart phone sapped his creativity. The world doesn’t need more texts. It needs more ideas! You’re a creative creature, so get out there and paint, write, compose or design something in the way that only you can, and then give it to someone you love. Now’s the time to make up for that clay ashtray you made for mom in third grade.

http://www.tobyrogers.net/2013/06/28/is-your-smartphone-sapping-your-creativity/

It Can Wait

After some serious burnout, Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project took a nine day vacation with no laptop, iPad or cell phone. As the days pass without all the mental noise, his concentration gets better and better…so much so, that even his tennis stroke improves! In his words, “The humbling truth is that not a single thing demanded my attention. Almost everything can wait.”

http://lifehacker.com/i-completely-disconnected-for-10-days-heres-what-happ-479410761

Day Camp Detox

Getting rid of technology for a few days isn’t so bad when it comes with s’mores! At Camp Grounded in Navarro, California, adult campers leave their gadgets in lock up and spend a whole weekend making sock puppets and painting rocks. Just kidding! This is way more fun than summer camp when you were 12-years-old. When the campers get a chance to get out of their heads, into their bodies and back to the earth, they ground themselves in some pretty amazing experiences…with each other. Imagine that. Just remember to pack enough bear repellant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/fashion/a-trip-to-camp-to-break-a-tech-addiction.html?pagewanted=all&_r=2&

http://campgrounded.org/#location