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On a break
The digital world and I. It was a long time pending, considering I have been constantly connected to the world through a bunch of shiny surfaces. A lot of my free time depended on a bunch of pixels running my life in ways I do not want. A weekend of full detox and about 10 days of bare minimum usage and I feel like a different person.
The weekend
The first day was uncomfortable. I woke up and as usual, the first thing I did was look at the phone. Not even a single message – no mails, no WhatsApp messages, no Instagram notification, no Linkedin. I had uninstalled all of these, but the urge to reinstall to check who could have messaged was high. My will to not gratify my temptation stayed strong and nothing was reinstalled. It was a Saturday. I kept looking at the phone every few minutes, bad habits of yesterday I never wanted to go back to.
Sunday was a lot easier. I still checked the phone, but not as much. I did not care whether someone wants to talk to me or not. People, for whom it was urgent, called me. Even when I used to send a message to anyone and everyone as I could, I did not. It gave me more time to think if something needed to be said or not. It was a day with minimal distractions, a day spent mostly with me and my own thoughts.
I used to take frequent digital breaks, but some time in the last few years it decreased. I kept telling myself that I could not do so. I stopped using Facebook in 2013, years before it was fashionable to do so. I did not start using Instagram till late 2017. I spent years without any presence on social media, yet now I found myself at the mercy of so many devices.
The week
Monday was the tricky one. I was getting used to being off these apps, unfortunately, Outlook had other plans. I had the need to demarcate the difference between work and non-work life. So I switched off all work-related notifications in the period when I was not working. Similarly, all personal messages are off during these working hours. Best decision I have taken. Life has been moving between the bed and the desk which ,unfortunately, are right next to each other. Lines have blurred completely, and I am so used to it that any effort I could have made to get out of this was lost due to inertia.
The change
Last 10 days have changed my life; a small change, but change nevertheless. I sleep better, I do not wake up in the middle of the night and see mails and worry what all work needs to be added the next day. Simultaneously I am no distracted by what stories are being put up on Instagram and what latest meme my friend has shared with me. Life is a little simpler.
The biggest change – I do not look for my phone when I wake up. I do not open my eyes to a screen. Mornings have changed; coffee and music add to the good morning. I can wake up comfortably and then indulge in mails and WhatsApp and whatnots. There is no hurry. I have managed to remove the instant in instant gratification and every day, I find that I do not need this kind of gratification at all.
Moving forward
I am likely to get back in the cycle soon enough where the lines will get blurred again, but knowing that it is possible and I have done it sets a precedence that I can do it again in the future. Maye in 2 months I will go on a break again. Meanwhile, to create some distance between work and home, I am shifting to a hotel for rest of the week, with the goal that the location change will just give me a little more momentum to break this inertia that is created by everything that encompasses my life right now.
I used to take pride over always being available, but I confess I find no shame in taking time out for myself and keeping different parts of my life as separate as I can.
This image was clicked in Bali on a cloudy May morning. Check out more pictures in my Portfolio; follow me on Instagram for more travel photographs.
