“I find it refreshing to unplug from it for a while. You kind of forget how deeply you get embedded in it.”
– Will Wright, Video Game Designer
Did you unplug last week? Did your kids?
Last Friday was National Day of Unplugging.
From sundown on Friday, 3rd March, to sundown the next day, people around the world unplugged from their devices.
Leading up to the Day, participants were asked to think about WHY they wanted to unplug – and to share their reason with others.
Responses on the Unplugged site showed that there are many ways to answer this question.
But most answers fell into two buckets.
- A specific action to do that you would unplug for (or the WHAT).
- An overarching goal to achieve that you would unplug for (or the WHY).
And we found the same at Habyts.
Here’s why our co-founders – Andy and Cynthia – choose to #Unplug.
The Why and the What of Unplugging
Answering both WHY and WHAT is crucial to helping our kids build healthy screen time habits.
WHY is unplugging important for my child? WHAT will my kids do when they’re unplugged?
To have make new habits stick, you must understand your own motivations and make the responses relevant to your family.
- Identifying why it is important for your kids to unplug keeps you on course – especially when battling potential waves of resistance from kids. For example, you may want to help your kids be ready for the real world (or) have a more loving family life (or) help your child develop his or her potential.
- Identifying alternatives to being plugged in helps steer kids away from the rocky shores of digital distractions. For example, you may want to increase family time outdoors (or) develop a new hobby together with your child (or) help your kids read for fun every day.
Steve Baskin does an excellent job of identifying both in his TedX talk Unplugging Our Kids.
His WHY is based on his own work and a fascinating survey across a range of companies (including Apple, Marriott, and PBS)…
and his WHAT comes from his tangible personal experiences at..summer camp!
Take a look at his insightful TedX talk Unplugging Our Kids.
So how would YOU answer?
Below are some Unplugged answers from the Habyts team below. (Boy, the things we learn about each other!)
And over the next few weeks, you’ll see more resources from us to help you address these questions for you and your family.
Because managing screen time habits is about more than taming technology. It’s about building habits that last a lifetime.
And whether or not you and your family took part in the National Day of Unplugging…
you can still take a day, an evening or simply an hour this week to unplug as a family.
Just start with one small step.
Did you unplug for #NationalDayOfUnplugging 2017? What did you unplug for?
Let us know in the comments below!