Freeing Yourself from Technology and Reclaiming Your Time

I spent the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend in Marco Island with my husband, children and mother. It was a very relaxing couple of days in paradise with perfect weather, lots of laughs and wonderful opportunity to reconnect for everyone.

One of my favorite things to do is walk down the long beach towards the point where it narrows and there is water on both sides of me. I enjoy the quite time, the connection with nature, the peacefulness of the water and the sea life from pelicans gliding to dolphins surfacing. I also enjoy the people watching especially older and younger couples walking hand in hand, exercisers jogging along the sand, young children collecting shells and splashing around in the waves, teenagers trying to fit in and so on. I've been going to Marco Island for 16 years and it's just as beautiful as the first time I went. What I noticed this time is people on cell phones. Some are walking along side their spouse, some are walking with friends or family and in some cases, both are on the phone. I run the whole gamut of emotions when I think of this scene of beauty and people choosing to be consumed by a phone conversation that has an 80% chance of being non-sensensical.

I was in the airport and noticed a couple having dinner at a restaurant. The man had a lap top on the table and was typing from the minute they sat until they left - taking bites in between typing. I see mothers holding babies as they are texting messages. I also see people on the plane keeping their cell phones on to the very last minute to give a play by play of the flight status to the person on the other end of the line - who must not have a life either.

I could go on. I know we all see these examples around us. On this vacation, I brought with me a book called the 4 hour work week. Now I barely got through a few chapters, but what I read combined with my heightened awareness of what I saw made me make some commitments to myself not to be a slave to technology. Technology is suppose to make our lives easier and we are victims of it. I am committed to turning my cell phone off and checking it twice a day - the first will be on the way to camp to see if there are any messages from campers and the second will be at 3:00 - before the kids get home from school and in enough time to respond to any emergencies -which rarely exist!!!

I am also going to check e-mails 4 times a day - which is a big change for me. I usually check e-mail every 4 minutes. I get over 500 e-mails a day and write about 80 e-mails a day. I am going to be in control of my time and I want to enjoy it and be the most productive with work time and the most relaxed with family and personal time.

It's an exercise in progress and I'll let you know how it goes. I am looking forward to eliminating what is not necessary, delegating what ever I can, doing what I am good at with the greatest pleasure, lowering stress, enhancing production and making the best possible choices with the precious time we all have. I have never gotten into bed at night wishing I talked on the phone more or wrote more e-mails or watched more television or played more video games.

I hope you join me in evaluating how technology has sucked up your time and trying an exercise in using technology to free up your time in eliminating what is not necessary, delegating what you can, doing what you love and enjoying your free time.

Finally, here are A Few Simple Tips for Self nurturing:

Have Gratitude
Do not focus on the negative
Find things you enjoy like music
Quiet time, meditate, read, pray
Exercise
Keep surroundings clean and organized
Keep live plants around for good quality oxygen- fresh air
Less TV
Chew your food, take time to enjoy it
Stay on good terms with others, no grudges
Create a positive environment, be open to making new friends, and surround yourself with positive people.
Read a great book
Learn to say no
Plan for some pampering

Enjoy,

Kelli
www.KelliCalabrese.com