Having trouble unplugging? You’re not alone.

A few weeks ago, we talked about setting aside time to ‘unplug.’

Yes…really and truly unplugging.

No checking email. No peeking at facebook messages and updates. No browsing pinterest.

To be completely ‘unplugged.’

Lots of you told us that it ended up being harder than you expected.  So did we!

(Especially since many of our courses include a facebook group, and we love to interact with everyone).

However, we all NEED to unplug from time to time.

Not only for our sanity and our relationships, but to be productive at work.

We talk about how being constantly ‘plugged in’ is one of the biggest productivity killers.

You stay in a constant reactive state and your own original ideas and creativity are smothered by constant messages.

 We’re calling for a group intervention – the Unplug Challenge!

Here’s what we are going to try out.

• Checking email: Three 10 minutes checks throughout the day (morning, noon, and 4pm)
• Facebook: Three 10 minute check-ins throughout the day to respond, comment and share info
• Random ‘inspiration’ browsing: 2x 15 minutes blocks
• 2 Days/week COMPLETELY (and we do mean completely) unplugged.

Here’s the second part of this equation though…and it’s something we need to collectively work on as a society.

We must stop expecting an immediate response.

(and we need to be ok with it!)

Seriously.

We need to call off the (slightly unreasonable) expectation that everyone will respond to us immediately (and getting really annoyed when it doesn’t come.

Ever find yourself tapping your foot impatiently because you had to wait 20 minutes for an email response. How about waiting a whole day?

(hey…we’ve been there…we’re not proud!)

You see, someone  might have decided to take the afternoon off.  Or the day. Or even TWO WHOLE DAYS away from the computer.

That’s ok, right?  I mean, if it’s for something that’s an incredibly urgent, there’s usually a phone number available – right?

So, part 2 of the pledge is to be ok with people take time to respond.

We’ll all be happier for it – promise!

Not sure you have the discipline to unplug on your own?

Well…it would seem you are not alone! There are tools cropping up that allow your to track (and even BLOCK) access to various social media sites to help you ‘unplug.’

Here’s a couple we have stumbled across.

1. Rescue Time  – a bit more robust tool, this will help you figure out exactly what you are doing with your time on the computer.  So, if you find yourself thinking, “where did the last 5 hours go?”, take a look at this option! Both a free and paid version available.

2. Freedom– this app ($29) will limit your time on various social media sites (they also have a free trial)

3. SelfControl – free download.  You set what sites you want to block and when (and not even a reboot will help you with this one!)

4. Focus(for Mac) – you assign a task and designate what apps you need to complete the task – it shuts down all distracting apps, and starts the timer to help you stay focused!

(and of course, there’s always the good ol’ egg timer!  Set you minutes for email or social media, when it dings, get the heck off!)

 

So…are you in?   Tell us in the comments below if you plan on taking the ‘unplug challenge!’ and what that will look like for you!