Unplugging from the digital world for 24 hours

The National Day of Unplugging aims to show the positive impact of a 24-hour digital detox, hoping people will step back to rethink their relationship with technology.

The digital power down challenge runs for 24 hours, starting Friday, March 9, at sundown.

As for Kelsey Connell, she doesn’t tip-toe around the fact that she’s addicted to social media, but a few months ago she knew something had to change.

“It was after my daughter kept saying, ‘Mommy look up, mommy look up, daddy look up,” Connell explained.

Connell started with deleting unnecessary apps and filing the remaining ones into folders. Then she took it one step further.

Every night at 7 p.m. CT, Connell and her husband don’t use their phones until the next morning.

The entrepreneur and blogger said it has helped set up boundaries, keeping work separate from her personal life.

“If someone is texting me about work, at seven o’clock at night, I’m now teaching them how they can treat me if I’m responding at 7 p.m.,” Connell said.

“People tend to turn to their phones every time they have even a moment where they are bored or where they feel uncomfortable. People no longer strike up conversations with random people at a restaurant, café or bus stop. Families sit ‘together’ at the table with each person on a different device,” Tanya Schevitz, a spokesperson for the National Day of Unplugging, said in a statement.

According to one study, on average people swiped, tapped or clicked their phones 2,617 times each day.

Praba Pilar is an information and communications technology researcher. She said it is challenging to disconnect because often smart phones are tied to careers, school and friendships.

“There’s dopamine activity around getting new information, about the lights, about the way the cell phone works,” Pilar explained.

As for Connell she admits some nights unplugging can be challenging, but finds motivation by putting her family first.

“I almost feel like I’m falling in love with my husband again. We spend so much more quality time together and with our daughter too. I find she’s more obedient now and she listens better and she’s a better behaved child. I think that’s because she’s getting more attention from us now and quality attention,” Connell said.