I think there are two types of people – those who love technology, and those who loathe it / don’t get it / don’t understand it.
I am one of the former (but bear with me if you’re a hater – I’m not going to get all geeky on you!).
This weekend my parents came down from (very) rural North Wales to see my brother and I (he’s emigrating to Australia at the end of November) and they put me, my partner and my brother up in the same nice hotel as them, just off Sloane Square, for the weekend so we could spend as much time together as possible.
It was lovely. We were in the West end where we never normally go and it felt like a world away from our flat in Arsenal. We had brunch and tea and the sun was shining. We didn’t even argue!
All was well until something very worrying dawned on me…I had forgotten my phone charger.
I have a smart phone. The calendar on it links in with my Google calendar and it reminds me of everything I have to do in my life to make it run smoothly by giving me a reassuring beep at the right time.
Those that know me or have worked with me understand that I have the worst memory in the world (not great for a therapist I know but I’m working on it!).
So, my whole life is seemingly dependent on a piece of technology telling what to do and where to be at the right time.
If you’re like me, I’m sure you’ll be sensing my panic at this point (and no, I don’t have an iphone so the dock in the room wasn’t an option 🙁 ) but I sucked it up and embraced the change.
I decided, mainly due to the fact I had few other options, that I had to embrace this change and use it to ‘live in the moment’ and just enjoy spending this time with my family.
We had a great time. We went shopping, had lunch in Harrods, bought my mum her birthday presents and generally enjoyed each other’s company, all without the distraction of my phone going off every hour.
Sometimes a change is as good as a rest. It was the weekend so I knew I wouldn’t be missing any meetings or important stuff, so I could just allow myself to relax, properly, and enjoy what life was offering to me, and it felt good!
How often to do really allow yourself to switch off from your regular life?
How often do you change your routine?
If you find yourself stuck in a rut or just generally feeling a bit run down or stressed, think about how you live your life. I found I had got myself in to a routine, which is fine, in principle, but it was dictating every move I made and I realise now that my body was screaming out to be released and allowed to relax, not in a scheduled ‘relax’ session during the day but actually let go, properly.
Once I did this I realised how nice it was not to have to worry about doing things or writing or studying. I could just be me.
Don’t get me wrong I love doing my work but that’s often why I end up doing too much of it. Sometimes it’s important to turn off. You can still get done what needs to be done without it overtaking your life.
How many times do you check your email in a day? What about facebook? Twitter?
Your business / friends / family are not going to die if you don’t reply to them / are five minutes late. They love you. They want you to be happy.
Change something today. One thing in your routine. Don’t make it a new routine. Watch what happens.