Technology has all but taken over lives. I am the last person to judge someone when they are at their phones on the park, or in the store with their kids.

Being a WAHM has opened my eyes to the realities of having your phone at the playground, and what that means.  If it weren’t for the ability to check on work at the park, I wouldn’t be able to take off and do those things in the middle of the day.

And even if it weren’t for having to work, sometimes by the time I make it to the playground, and my kid is not attached to me, I need a minute to breathe, and my phone helps.  The point is, I get it.  Technology is a good thing at times.

That said, we have a rule in our family that the kids are not allowed to bring electronics to family functions.  This means dinners with families, Christmas time, Thanksgiving.  If it is a planned family function, or just a random family function, they’re not allowed to have electronics.  Except- I always do.

Most of the time my excuse is that I want my camera (and, yes, that’s true).  But, the reality is, I spend far more time checking emails, social media, answering unnecessary texts.  If I am going to force my kids to ditch the electronics during family time, what’s my problem??!!

This weekend, my phone died at the start of a get together, and instead of running to charge it, I decided to roll with it.  Thus, I gave myself quite a few awesome reasons to unplug and spend some time with family and friends.

5 reasons to unplug and spend

time with family

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1.  Spend more quality time with your family.

Being intentional about unplugging means I am intentional about spending some serious time with my family, and friends.  There is a difference between spending time with family, and spending quality time with your family.  I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell you which one is better.

2.  Stress less.

Sometimes, my phone just stresses me out.  It reminds me what I need to do that I have yet to do.  It reminds me how full the rest of the week is.  It rings, and I’m able to answer it, I do.

If it’s a client or something work-related, I will stress about it until I can do something about it.  Also, my phone has my bank account, bill notifications, email, and all kinds of other things that are potential stressors attached to it.  Unplugging gets rid of all of that!

3.  Focus on your family.

I’m not focusing on what I need to do, or should be doing, I am focusing on them.  As a self-proclaimed work-a-holic, I can honestly say forcing myself to do this at times is completely necessary for my sanity, and general well-being. Shifting the focus from work to family, really does help me to remember what’s important.

4.  Appreciate what you have.

Social media has a way of making me feel like I need more of everything.  I don’t hate on people who posts their happy pictures because honestly, that’s what you want to share with others.

I mean, no one wants to follow Debbie Downer.  That gets old quick.  Closing out my social media apps for a while helps bring me back to reality.

5.  Get up and move!

I’m the first person to acknowledge messing with a happily entertained child is on the same lines as waking a sleeping baby.  If one of my kids is doing a stand up job of keeping entertained without my help, you’d be hard pressed to find me interrupting that.

That’s yet another reason you might find me on my phone when I could be playing with my kids (also another reason I wouldn’t judge someone else for being on their phone), there are times when me “ignoring” them is intentional.

More on that later…  Unplugging does give you a reason to get up and interact with your kids, or even just move around when you’re trying to give them some space.

In the end, I left my phone uncharged for the entire picnic, and was completely unplugged for the afternoon/ evening.  I didn’t die, or go crazy, and I really did enjoy my time with friends and family.  It was really a nice break from it all.

What do you think, is it worth it to unplug every so often? 

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