Unplug your mind

Dump the phone and unplug your mind

"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small, A journey of thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

‘Constantly connected’ – if that seems to sum up your day then I have a word of caution for you and it is not coming from me alone, former vice president of Facebook Chamath Pali says “Social media is ripping apart the basic fabric of our society” and he feels “tremendous guilt” over his work on building Facebook’s social validation engine. Believe it or not Facebook has an algorithm to assess your personality and creates so called “short term, dopamine feedback loop called social validation”. Which in simple words means the like buttons, high fives, happy go lucky icons that it reads from your profile and feeds it into an algorithm to target advertisement and social traffic onto your Facebook page.

In an interview with Harvard business school he says he has deactivated not only his but his family’s Facebook account and encourages his kids to call their friends over phone rather checking in status on social media. All this has added another buzz word in our well-being dictionary called “Digital Detox”.

While Technology addiction is not classified as a psychological disorder as of now but it is heading that way quicker than you can imagine. At the same time, there is no denying the fact about value technology delivers in today’s age. However, as the old saying goes “too much of anything is bad” it becomes our revered duty to let our next generation understand the risk that technology overdose brings. Believe it or not we are the last generation on this planet that spent their lives without any screens, apart from a Television.

I still remember the good old black and white TV set in our living room back in 80’s and waiting for Giant Robot, He Man and Spider Man animation series to be aired every Sunday. I never imagined as a child something like tablet or smart phone would make it possible to deliver such content with mere touch of a button. Maybe it was good,since we had time rationed to watch this stuff vs. studies, playtime and family time.

As they say “history repeats itself” number one advise digital detox experts give is rationing screen time in our daily life, so let’s look at how it works:

Implement computer free days – Take out at least one day per month or every fortnight when you

dump your phone, tablet, laptops and TV’s to enjoy time with your family.

Leave the screens out of sleep – Latent technology used in LED screens is a blue optical display which hampers our brainwave pattern, listen to some good old songs or read a book before going to bed instead of looking at a screen. Psychology experts suggest at least one hour gap between sleep and screen time.

Carry your camera – Instead of phone take out your good old camera on holidays to restrict screen time.

Disconnect to reconnect – The best part of living in Australia is the good old “Outback” culture, we are so fortunate to have the biggest backyards and lovely camp sites all over the country. If you haven’t tried camping ever it is a must do activity. Leave your phones and screens behind to rejoice reconnect and recuperate with your family and loved ones.

Control your phone – If you are tempted to look at your phone with every ring, vibrate or notification then take it as a signal to control your phone time. It can be as simple as leaving your phone away and going on a walk with a mate or just by yourself. It is a good idea to switch off your phone at night or at least leave it on silent away from your bedroom.

Schedule screen free nights – Once a week switch off Wi-Fi and turn off TV to spend some good old dinner table time with your loved ones.

“Reward Yourself” - Especially kids for not using internet/ TV/ YouTube for once a week by scheduling screen free trip to park, zoo, aquarium or beach. There are digital detox retreats if you wish to take the pricey option.

Given that our relationship with screen is still relatively new, there are warnings signs that we should look out for and pass on to the next generation the experience we have been raised with.

Fun Fitness Alternatives!

“Hit the gym, quit sugar, cut down alcohol, eat more veggies, meditate, floss your teeth, and get a health cover…”

Cultivating healthy lifestyle can seem like a mammoth task, but there are many ways to make it easier. Staying fit need not be an Olympic level commitment, if you don’t like lifting weights in the gym then don’t do it. If you don’t like running, don’t do it. No point giving grief to your limbs if you are not cut out for it. However! Fitness and well-being is thought process and a lifestyle thing, there are ways to get your exercise dose complete without forking out gym membership.

Consider this: “Your main goal should be for you to enjoy the physical activity” and find a way to do it more than four times a week. Also combine this with making better decision about food you put in your body and that’s it.

Here is a list of my favourite fun fitness alternative that doesn’t feel like exercise:

Hiking, especially with friends: I always love a walk around Woodcraft Lake near Blacktown NSW, I’ll be surprised if you can’t find a place to stroll or hike with family or friends in Australia. In darn blue Aussie accent “Hell yeah maties get on and get going…”

Zumba Fitness: I must admit I tried it myself once or twice apart from being the only guy shaking my booty along in class full of ladies. I felt like quitting every 5 minutes but I stayed on and after 15 mins I was not only enjoying it but sweating like a pig.

Weekly sports night: I love to play Tennis, TT & Badminton and make sure I book at-least one weeknight for it apart from socialising it is great way to stay fit.

Active Video games: Believe it or not Microsoft invented its first video game in 1990’s step dance (which you see at every game parlour) to overcome obesity in American kids. This was even taken further by Wii, Nintendo, Kinetic and Sony, I personally love playing boxing on my Wii and it is bloody entertaining and great work out.

Play childhood games: I don’t mean to push world’s population on name of fitness  J J… However playing with my 3.5 year old daughter gives me a good run for my breath. Best part is you get to re-live your childhood with kids and they never go out of energy J

Adult Gymnastics: That thing that couples do? Yeah? Do more of that, self-explanatory. Moving on! (Don’t laugh)

Clean the house: Yeah, yeah that’s my usual answer to my wife when she asks me to get up and clean when in middle of an interesting TV show on Sunday morning. I know it sucks sometimes but you name it vacuuming, gardening, dishes, moping anything per say does get you sweaty. Isn’t it? So what are you waiting for? Do it for love. Clean house, happy partner and fitness all in one!

Yoga: Build flexibility, strength, sweat and relax all in one. There are million types of yoga, and it is fastest growing fitness industry in Australia so go and check it out yourself.

There are several other ways to keep fit like martial arts, salsa dancing, rock climbing, golf, ice skating, swimming the list goes on and on… Staying fit could never get easier than this best to follow this five point approach if you need a push over the fence.

Say yes to it before you say no, commit in advance, go with a friend or family, and expect to suck in the beginning (like I did with Zumba) and finally have fun.