Reconnected

Well, I did it.

A whole weekend partially disconnected from my digital life. No work, no social media of any kind, no blogging, no e-books or Angry Birds. No checking-in, no front page, and I didn't "Like" anything.

So how was it? Well...

First up, it was a lot harder than I anticipated. Apparently I've grown much more accustomed to my digital life than I realized. Not having several devices going at once; not being constantly in-touch was weird. And more than once I found myself having pangs of withdraw not knowing what my online friends were up to. And I was bored at first; way more than I expected to be. I had no idea how much I had come to rely on my multitasking ways. It was an eye opener.

But that said, it was great. I felt so much more engaged and present. I played with the dog instead of telling her to get off my lap. I watched a little TV, but it wasn't just background noise- I actually watched. I listened to music more than normal. I got outside, went for a walk, and just relaxed. I was much more mindful of what I was doing and I was much more pleased with myself.

The funny thing was I really didn't think I had a problem. Going into this weekend I really thought I'd just notice it a bit but that wouldn't be a big deal. I had no idea how truly dependent I was on all my distractions until I took them away. I'm glad I did.

So what have I learned? That I need to do this more often. I think more weekends are going to be "e-free" or at least "e-reduced." I'm definitely going to stop the multitasking. It's not good for me. I'm going to be more mindful and more present. And I'm going to try to mix up my life and get out the routine.

Not bad for a weekend experiment.