Giving Technology a Bedtime

Answer these questions:

Do you feel overwhelmed or overstimulated at night or during the day?  

Do you feel like you are aimlessly streaming through information/articles/blogs/social media just because you feel like you need something to do?

Do you wonder how much time you spend cuddling with technology at night? 

Do you wish that you weren't so dependent on social media or the internet to entertain you?

I asked myself many of those questions towards the end of March (and didn't like the answers), so I knew something had to shift in my world. I spent too much time flipping and pinning on Pinterest at night or scrolling through blogs. I was exhausted because I was engrossed in technology (iPad, iPhone, computer) past 10 or even past 11--which made our 6:00 wake-up super fun ;)

And I was doing absolutely nothing productive. Although I blog, I typically blog during the day because at night my brain gets all mushy and scattered (I am not a night owl!). So, I wasn't using technology for something useful; I was using it just to do something.

So, when I sat down to write my April goals, I knew that I had to draw a line in the sand. I had to give technology a boundary. Not only was I bored trying to entertain myself (ever feel like that?), but I was also having trouble going to sleep because my brain was overstimulated.

So, I gave technology a bedtime.

9:00.

I thought it would be hard. I thought I'd hate it. I thought I couldn't do it.

But you know what? I did it, and it was absolutely magical.

Seriously. So, so ridiculously good!

I thought that I would start reading more at 9, but that honestly didn't happen. But, I did have more conversations with Josh, go to bed earlier, sleep better, and didn't feel that I-just-wasted-two-hours-of-my-life feeling when I went to bed.

Here's the thing. I know that everyone is different that I am. I don't think that everyone should give technology a bedtime. I get it.

But. I'm going to challenge you to draw some lines around how and when you use technology (whether it's the internet, social media, blogs, TV, etc). Give technology a boundary. A place. A place to be and a place not to be.

Maybe it's taking the weekend off of social media or not grabbing your phone first thing in the morning. I encourage you to just try chiseling out a pocket of time when you normally aimlessly use technology out of boredom or habit and find something else to replace it.

I know that some of you are either thinking I'm crazy or annoyed that I am even bringing this up. Right?

But after this past month (plus, I'm going to continue doing it this month), I have seen how drawing a line actually has brought so much freedom to do other stuff.

I feel less tethered to technology and less distracted by it. And I like that.

I like going to bed without feeling my head is exploding with crafts I saw on Pinterest or waking up groggy because I stayed up reading silly (although entertaining!) articles from my Facebook feed.

Really, I'm just gushing out all of this to you because of the unexpected positive effect and habit that it's stirred up.

I thought I'd share it just in case some of you want to join me and give your technology a bedtime or draw some boundaries around when/how you use it.

If you do, let's use the hashtag #technologybedtime and share about it.

I don't know if I'll do this forever or just until next month, but I do now that it's a great solution for dealing with that feeling that technology is bombarding your life. It's a simple way to retreat and step back.

What are your thoughts? Do any of you ever feel like technology/social media/the internet is bogging you down? What are some of your solutions for not getting overwhelmed by all the stuff/information that's being slammed into us constantly?