Confirm shut down

Have you ever heard or felt your phone’s phantom beeps and buzzes when you didn’t have a notification? Let a delicious meal go cold because you just had to instagram #instafood? Missed an experience because you stopped to hunt for your mobile device instead of paying attention to the real thing?

You could have fear of living offline (FOLO) or, if you don’t like acronyms, nomophobia – an addiction to digital connection.

Why unplug?

Whether you plug your eyes to a smartphone, tablet or laptop, always being available increases your stress. Even if you use your device for work, you shouldn’t be available online after work hours all the time. If something urgent comes up, people will call you.

Constantly hunching over a device can give you bad posture and back pain. And that article you read in bed to calm down so you can sleep? That might be why you have insomnia in the first place. Doctors recommend putting away your mobile phone or tablet at least an hour before bed since the blue light from the screen interferes with your sleep pattern.

Choose to disconnect

In our interconnected world, disconnecting can be as difficult as finding an exit point in the Matrix. You will have to go back in, but you can escape for a bit of time out. Take a minute to yourself by moving away from your computer, switching off your phone and tablet and closing your eyes. Take the time to breathe and think of nothing. Practice this till you can disconnect whenever you need to.

At home, you can take this even further and leave your device in a drawer to have some non-virtual fun. Read a book, bond with your housemates or watch clouds. Take a long bath. Take some time out for you. Sound tempting? Unplug now.

Yes, we know it’s ironic to tell you to disconnect in an online article