NAFE NEWS & NOTES FOR SEPTEMBER

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Posted On September 12, 2017

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5ย Tips
5 Tips on How to Unplug and Breathe Again
By Paula Damiano โ€“ Editor,ย NAFE NEWS & NOTESElectronics rule our lives. Mostly thatโ€™s a good thing. The resultant increased productivity and time savings make work and life so much easier. But better connectivity often meansย alwaysย connected โ€“ and thatโ€™s a problem.ย Half of American workersย report doing some work in their free time to meet job demands. And according to theย Pew Research Center, 84% of cell phone users claim theyย couldnโ€™t go a single day without their device.

You know you should take a break. But why โ€“ and more importantly, how?

1 Itโ€™s good for your mental health.ย Theย Huffington Postย suggests an occasional โ€œdigital dietโ€ to improve your life by spending that digital-free time โ€œfocusing on your relationships and activities you enjoy.โ€ And who doesnโ€™t want a better life?
2 TMI.ย Social media often offers too much drama about other peopleโ€™s lives, whether theyโ€™re celebrities, politicians, or personal friends. Theย Be Free Projectย recommends a social media detox every now and again. Do you really need to know that much about that many?
3 Reacquainting with nature.ย Whether itโ€™s a hiking trail in the Rockies or a path in a city park, being around green, living things and reallyย seeingย them is good for you on many levels. The air is cleaner and the beauty is inspiring. Likeย The Wilderness Societyย says, โ€œThere is no wi-fi in the forest โ€“ but you will find a better connection.โ€
4 Other things to do.ย According toย Motivation Grid: โ€œThe average American spends 3.2 hours per day on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat.โ€ Thatโ€™s 1,168 hours a year. Think what else you could do with that time! Write a book (remember books?), compose a sonata, learn a foreign languageโ€ฆ If youโ€™re not reaching your goals or canโ€™t seem to get anything done, just remember:ย โ€œItโ€™s hard to do that if youโ€™re constantlyย zoning out on social mediaย and never working on improving your own life.โ€
5 Schedule no-electronics time.ย Make an appointment with yourself. Set a specific time and duration (an hour, maybe) for using electronics at night at home. Itโ€™s equally important when youโ€™re on vacation โ€“ allow yourself 30 minutes a day for contact. Then turn everything off. According to โ€œHow to Unplug and Enjoyโ€ by Marriottโ€™sย SPGWeekends.comย ,โ€œOne uninterrupted half-hour is far less distracting than checking the web every 10 minutes.โ€

Author Anne Lamott makes this observation: โ€œAlmost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.โ€

Paula Damiano writes and edits corporate newsletters, executive profiles, marketing materials, website text, and other business applications that require words. Contact her here:ย pauladamiano@hotmail.com.

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