Dare to unplug and give yourself permission to say yes to your wellbeing

At the close of 2019, I decided to take a break from social media. Once I made up my mind to unplug after my last post that day, the feeling of freedom I felt was rather exhilarating. Don’t get me wrong, as a creative person, I enjoy browsing through Instagram, posting and connecting with like-minded creatives that keep me inspired, encouraged, and motivated on days I find myself in a stagnated slump. As a freelancer, a crucial part of my job is to promote my work, and obviously, that means being active on the different social media platforms. However, I wanted to start off the new year unplugged and recharged with a fresh perspective, without the noise of information overload to drown out my own inner voice as I was planning on facing the new year with certain personal goals. That one-month hiatus afforded me the time for deep thinking and mental space to meditate on things that are important to me. One of which, I reinstituted an old ritual where I switch off my phone for at least the first few hours in the morning so I can put the focus back on reading, as it helps to set the tone for the day and builds focus. I always say, if the goal is to live life with intention and purpose then it’s important to waste less time drifting through life staring constantly at a screen. Living with intention means saying no to the things that aren’t important so we can say yes to what matters most. Tweet that. 😉

In today’s world it is deceptively easy to lose sight of our direction and the things that matter most and give us joy. It’s very easy for the days, the months, and the years to quickly slip by, and we arrive at the end of our lives wondering where the time has gone – mourning the life we dreamed to live, but never realized. I would hate to experience that regret at the end of my days if I will even be that fortunate enough to see them. Downtime is about giving yourself the freedom and space to do nothing in particular – letting your mind rest from distractions and noise from the hustle and bustle. I’ve had people say to me, “you’re taking time off AGAIN?” followed by some comment that their life is much too busy to have the “luxury of taking time off”, in an attempt to make me feel less than. At the end of the day, it boils down to choices, realizing that your time and energy can be invested in things that will serve you or destroy you. 

Since taking care of my well-being helps me to be a better human being in society, I find it’s a must for me to make time for regular downtime to replenish and recharge. I am aware that might not be possible for most people, especially caregivers or parents tending to their children and family. However, like it’s been said, “where there’s a will there’s a way.” The secret is gaining control. That’s where the art ofbalancecomes in along witheffectively managing time and setting priorities. Much like shutting down a computer at the end of the day, when we power down and switch off, our mind recalibrates, replenishes, and makes sense of connections between our thoughts and memories – finding solutions to questions that we normally would not be able to focus on when mentally preoccupied. Hence, dare to unplug and give yourself permission to say yes to your wellbeing. It’s potentially life-changing. 

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