Tech Timeout ~
Between the laptop, the smart phone, the TV and the smart speaker, it seems that we always have some sort of tech device running in our household. My husband loves messing with the smart speaker that we have in the living room and listening to his music collection. It’s very rare that I ever see my daughter without her phone or her ipod in her hand. And, well, my smart phone and my laptop may as well be extensions of my self. So, we tried something novel this weekend. We took a Tech Timeout.
What Exactly Is A Tech Timeout?
We took a challenge to put down everything electronic and just try to find things to do as a family for just one hour a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. You know, like the cavemen did it back in the day. I admit, it sounded pretty easy peasy to me. But I soon realized it wasn’t quite as easy as I thought it would be.
Hi, my name is Dawn and I am addicted to my laptop and smartphone.
I admit, I really had a hard time staying off the phone. Every time that flirty email *bing* sounded promising the possibility of a great offer or other such blogger business, I really had a hard time letting it go. What would I be missing? And what about my blog? What internet catastrophe could be happening that I needed to get to work on STAT?
But I stayed off the phone. And you know what? It was fun. 🙂 As a matter of fact, I read. *GASP* My most favorite past time in my entire life finally got the love that it had been lacking the past couple of years since I started blogging.
And we talked. With no “Friends” or “Golden Girls” reruns in the background, we shared our stories about our days with each other. Admittedly, we watched the clock the first day and a little on the 2nd, but on the 3rd we went well past the hour and didn’t even realize it. And then we just kept on talking.
Take the Tech Timeout Pledge With Your Family
If you want something fun to do with the family this weekend, do nothing. Trust me, you will love it. 🙂
View Comments (37)
These are great ideas. My teens are connected constantly and it would be nice to find some unconnected things to do with them.
These days it's rare to see an entire family out without some sort of screen in front of 1 or more of them. I think this would be a challenge for us, but I really like the idea of unplugging at least once a week.
I would go mad without the television. I don't even have to be watching it. It just has to be on.
Great List of ideas, just think it's all the things families and people/kids use to do before technology plagued us all! Kinda sad to think about, stepping away is a great idea, even just for a few hours a day!
Such a great idea. We have recently cut cable completely, and my son got grounded from the xbox, so electronics are a no go right now for us. And ya know what? It's been heavenly.
We cut off our satellite not too long ago, too. We watch TV shows on DVD or the computer if we want to watch something. WAY cheaper!
This is a really good idea. I have a hard enough time getting my husband to put his phone away for dinner (he works a lot with the stock market so he obsesses about the stocks). I'll mention some of these suggestions to him.
I know this would be a challenge for me, but I love some of the ideas you shared. I would love to bake some cookies with the kids & take them to Ronald McDonald house to share & encourage the families there. We could bake a second batch & after our hour + of sharing, we could call friends & ask if we could drop in the next day, bringing our encouragement cookies to them.
These are great ideas! I love the planting seeds tip; we do this often. It's fun to watch them grow and gives us a reason to be outside.
We often take tech free road trips where we don't have the DVD, DS or any ipod games to entertain the kids. It's fun to see what happens when we talk and play road games! Great challenge!
I love these ideas! It's a challenge to pry my teen boys away from their devices and it would be nice to take a Tech Time Out. Great post!