Social Media unplugging

Motivated by Arianna Huffington’s book Thrive, I decided that whilst on holiday in Languedoc and Provence in 2018 to unplug from all my social media platforms.

More recently, I watched a documentary about Bill Gates and his “think weeks” where he adopted a similar unplugging approach but what I liked mostly was his very untrendy shopping bag full of books !!  So when I was on annual leave for a few days from 25 June 2021, I thought I might experiment and create my own mini “think weekend”.

Inspired by the powerful results, this evolved into a regular bi annual “long think” retreat: booking Airbnb breaks across the UK that gave me dedicated space to reflect, research, and create. It was during these retreats, that I began laying the foundations and writing my first self-help book, which I’m aiming to publish in 2026.

When I unplugged, I also discovered these benefits too:

• Though historically a good sleeper anyhow, I still felt much more energised and less sluggish in a morning
• Increased focus, energy levels and motivation
• My personal life admin productivity levels increased
• I was significantly more aware of my surroundings both indoors and outdoors
• My weekly cross country and park runs seemed less strenuous and more enjoyable
• I was able to read books with heightened focus and speed
• I procrastinated less
• By watching no news and minimal TV and instead listening to music, Radio 4 podcasts and TED talks my mindset seemed more positive
• The lack of usual neck and shoulder aches was evident
• My thinking patterns were mostly positive as I was able to be in the here and now

So next time you take a break, I highly recommend you try social media unplugging too ….

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