Work to unplug during holidays

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Sherry Garza
  • U. S. Air Force Band of the Golden West
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  "You are always on that phone," complains my husband from across the table, any given night of the week. "How about you login to dinner?"

I admit it: I am addicted to my cellphone. I check my email, Facebook, and Words With Friends before getting out of bed, again before falling asleep, and umpteen times throughout the day. 

On several occasions, my husband has threatened to orchestrate a digital intervention.  So this holiday season, I am going to take a break and unplug. 

Many of us spend too much time with our faces glued to our various-sized screens, but the season is a good reason to reboot and detox from digital habits. Will you join me in unplugging for the holidays?

By turning off Instagram, Vine, Twitter and so on, we will be able to slow down, live in the moment and create new connections in our personal lives.  We will be freed to focus on our loved ones, revisit old memories and make new ones.  Perhaps we will even rediscover a neglected hobby or a lingering creative spark that leads to a new project.

Unplugging sounds easy enough, but some of us panic at the thought of a phoneless trip to the store. So here are a few tips to help prepare for a technology time out:

· Set a predetermined timeframe.  Designate several hours or even several days as device-free, and/or only "check in" with electronics at a specified time each day.

· Warn friends and family. Avoid widespread panic amongst your friends, your mom's neighbors and your middle school bestie by announcing your digital absence in advance.

· Hide the phone.  Or at least turn off your push notifications and alerts.  Remove the temptation to pick it up "just for a second." We all know how that ends.

· Plan some alternative activities. If you are equipped with fun and relaxing things to do, then the tablet will not beckon so alluringly from within the desk drawer.

One way to make the most of a digital detox is to treat your family to the many free, regional activities available this time of year. There are a plethora of tree farms, holiday festivals and concerts available in communities surrounding Travis.

Check out a free holiday show by your Air Force Band of the Golden West at 7 p.m. at the Vacaville Performing Arts Theater. Or treat your family to Christmas on the Waterfront at 6 p.m. at Suisun City's Harbor Plaza, featuring performance by Mobility, Band of the Golden West's rock band.

If you are feeling creative, design your own holiday show, complete with carols and homemade costumes and perform it for your neighbors and friends. Or have a craft night and fashion homemade gifts for your loved ones.

Whatever activities help ring in the season, unplugging for the holidays will leave you refreshed, reconnected and ready to tackle the new year.