Unplug Time!

 

I have always loved social media and my relationship with digital devices and platforms. However, it has been an adjustment throughout this course. EME 6414 has required me to be far more engaged on social media, which is okay, but I should have thought about how tired I could be from constantly trying to keep up and engage with multiple aspects of the online world. We are surrounded by and consumed by digital media in our everyday lives. The digital detox challenge could not have come at a better time; this challenge helped me take a break from everything I have felt overwhelmed by. The biggest challenge for this particular #EME6414 challenge was that I experienced moments where I felt like I missed out on information that could be beneficial to me in the real and digital world. I began with silencing notifications of the various social media apps I use daily, and after completing that, I decided to put my phone on do not disturb (DND). The DND feature on iPhones has been life-changing for me as I have been able to silence all notifications and not get distracted by many. We are living in a world that constantly has social and digital media guiding our daily routine; there are many times when the first task that I do daily is open a social media app and check my newsfeeds. I constantly feel as if I am missing something when I am not on social media. Even if it is just scrolling the accounts to see the latest picture or accomplishment, any time I want to take a step away from social media, I instantly have moments of fear of missing out, better known as FOMO, because I depend on digital and social media for the majority of my information from local and global news to updates from family and friends and school! 

Thank you, Gabrielle, for the amazing social media detox tips! I plan to continue to practice moments where I go "dark" from the world and truly take a pause and break from the digital world. The time I took to do that now could be repeated in months or weeks/days. Everyone deserves to power off from the world and begin to live in moments that bring them endless joy and peace. Digital media can be toxic and lead to additional challenges and barriers, leading to a critical moment of unplugging and recentering one's routine. I chose to do this challenge while back home in Indiana, and I could spend time with my friends and family and genuinely get the love I came to Indiana for. I did not check my email, but I did if it was not urgent. Urgent emails received immediate responses, whereas emails that were not urgent did not. I have discussed throughout the course how I also am teaching some undergraduate courses. I was able to power off from that work, as it can be exhausting in the Summer term with everything moving at a quick pace. My detox consisted of enjoying great food, laughs, some happy tears, and even moments when I took a day trip to Cincinnati, Ohio, for one of my fraternity brothers' birthday! 

How often should someone have a digital detox? What do you feel makes the most sense? How would you spend a digital detox day? 

Dr. Vanessa Dennen eme6414.blogspot