Is this the month to disconnect?
Recently, I’ve seen people crossing the road oblivious to their surroundings; a car turning into the road and the person looking at their phone totally unaware a car is there. To top it all, this week I saw a lady (yes, it was you in the red car) burn through a red light while texting. Scary stuff.
We appear to be addicted to our phones. I propose that August is the month to disconnect. If you are on holiday, then disconnecting is a must.
The average person checks their phone over 100 times a day. Canadians spend an average of 36.5 hours a month online. According to Ofcom, the United Kingdom’s media and telecom regulator, 59 per cent of Britons are hooked on their phones. Many said browsing the Internet resulted in missed sleep.
If you have data on your phone, you can be buzzed at, notified and pinged at all day (and night) long. When did you last enjoy a break: a real no-screen break?
Doctor Lee Hadlington, from Leicester’s De Montfort University in the UK, discovered the more times a person uses the Internet or their mobile phone, the more likely one is to experience “cognitive failures,” such as a general lack of awareness of surroundings, including forgetting why you have just gone from one part of the house to the other.
The brain needs down time, including sleep and periods of rest. Nowadays, sleep is often curtailed by the lure of Netflix or the Internet. Sound familiar?
This month, and beyond, why not enjoy a bike ride, dinner with friends, a walk or a picnic phone-free? Put the phone on silent and leave it in your backpack.
We need to disconnect long enough to reset our daily habits. Social media makes many people feel guilty, or sanctimonious, about their body or the food they eat. These ongoing comparisons we put ourselves through are equal to a thief of joy.
If you have to uninstall Facebook or Instagram from your phone, then do it. Give it a go and see if you feel better without constant updates of what other people are doing.
Living on the west coast we get to experience the most beautiful countryside for free: biking in the hills, picnics in the park, walking along the valley trails or sitting on a bench watching the world go by.
This month, why not leave the phone on silent and ignore the digital world vying for your attention, while you explore the natural world around you?
Reconnect to experiencing things without taking pictures and see how it feels. It may well be the secret ingredient for an enjoyable summer that you are looking for. Or you could just Google: “How to have a relaxing summer in BC?” You choose.
Joanna Runciman is a columnist for the Whistler Question.
