When I came up with the idea of 31 Days Unplugged, I thought it would be useful for other women like me: stay-at-home moms who were spending too much time online during the day. God had been speaking to me for awhile about the issue, so I began unplugging and paying attention to my use of technology on the first day of February.
I had more than half of my posts ready for the month of March before the first post was made public, and even though I wasn’t completely unplugged, I was already beginning to see the positive effects of less time spent online in my home. I found that I had more time to do what I was supposed to be doing, to be what God has called me to be: a wife and mother. I was less stressed-out, and in turn my entire family was more peaceful.
Here are some things I learned from my month (well, 2) of unplugging:
1-Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, but I have been using it too much. I can check Facebook once a day for a few minutes and keep in touch with friends and family, but checking Facebook constantly throughout the day is a waste of my time and energy. I have found that my home and life runs more smoothly without Facebook.
2-Facebook makes me stressed. People post things on there that make me angry or anxious, and I don’t have room in my day for time wasted on those things. Facebook causes gossip, which I don’t like and would rather not be a part of. God tells us in Phillipians 4 to “fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.” I’m just going to put this out there, guys: these things are not on Facebook.
3-I have been kinder to my children since I have been unplugged. I’m not sure if that is because I am not as anxious or stressed or if I have more time for them or what, but it has been great for the 3 of us. One of my goals for 2014 was to stop yelling, and unplugging this month helped me with that tremendously.
4-I do have enough time to do all that I want to do, and I have time to do it well. I just needed to stop wasting my time.
Do I feel like I missed out on anything this month?
I can honestly say that I don’t miss Facebook. I think that checking it for a few minutes each day will be enough for me to feel in-touch. I am pretty ambivalent about Twitter. Some people really love it, but I mainly use it only for blog updates. TV is also something that I don’t care too much for. When I have the TV on, it is usually on cartoons or Pawn Stars (Jason loves that show). These things aren’t hard for me to give up.
What I do miss, though, is Instagram. I LOVE taking pictures of the kids, and I get a lot of inspiration from other people’s pictures. I am seriously looking forward to using Instagram again, so if you follow me on Instagram expect A LOT of pictures from me tomorrow!
So, what has changed?
Everything has changed for me. My morning routine begins with God instead of status updates, I clean or play a game with my kids instead of checking Facebook, and I have more time for my husband when he gets home from work at night. Everything has changed. I am not going back (well, except for the Instagram thing:)).
What did you learn this month? If you would like to share, please join my link-up. I haven’t hosted a link-up before, so if there are some initial hiccups please bear with me!
If you aren’t a blogger, please e-mail your story to me at mommyinbonlee@hotmail.com. I would really love to hear from you, and maybe share your testimony on my blog.
While I didn’t unplug for 31 days, I did cut back. And, I was more aware of what I watch and what I read. This made it easier for me to scroll through things that aren’t important to me. I changed the station on my radio. Thank you for presenting this and getting me back on track!
I’m in the process of cutting back, too. This has meant less time on the blog for me, but trying to maintain the blog along with all of the social media channels just started to overwhelm me. And that’s not the sort of thing I need overwhelming me right now. So I’ve started to cut back and make a conscious effort to reduce my screen time. Thanks for sharing your story – it’s really helpful for me to hear.
It is really overwhelming to keep up with all of it! Best of luck to you on cutting back.