Unplugged : Be Free from Devices

Considering you are currently reading my online blog I'm guessing that you are like me - you just can't get enough of technology. Not just the internet, but phones, tablets and laptops. They rule our lives. My phone is the first thing I check in the mornings and the last thing at night. When I can't get to sleep I take back out my phone and scroll through my social media news feeds.

Social Media brings it's own difficulties when it comes to looking after our mental health. I've written before about how social media made me miserable when I was depressed. It was horrible to have to scroll through posts from people boasting about their ‘perfect’ lives. I couldn’t understand why everyone was living happy lives when I wasn’t. I had nothing else to do but be on Facebook every evening. It was all-consuming and utterly devastating. Don't get me wrong, it is possible to have a healthy relationship with social media and the online world; but it's not always possible to foster a positive attitude when you have a mental illness.

But my evenings are short, and I'm tired of spending my few free hours tied to my computer, often getting frustrated because the internet has stopped working again. And so it has become part of my Be Free resolution this month - to be free from devices.

Time Blocking | Ditch the Schedule

We're almost midway through the month of April and my resolution to Be Free. Today I'm trying to find freedom from my schedule by embracing a new way of getting stuff done - Time Blocking.

What is it?
Time Blocking is a productivity tool that helps you cross tasks off the to-do list and finally, get things done. By dedicating specific hours to specific tasks, you create structure and allow yourself to focus on completing tasks in a set amount of time.
It’s supposed to be a constructive tool to improve your time management skills. So I wanted to free myself from my long task lists and traditional planner, and instead give Time Blocking a try.

How do I spend my time?
Using a free printable from Hey Donna I tracked where my hours go in a typical week. Between my two jobs, I have little other time left in a week.

From Hey Donna

• Orange is time I spend sleeping
• Blue is time I spend getting ready, either for work, the week ahead or just showering.
• Green is time I try to dedicate to spending on the blog. 
• Purple is time I spend eating or cooking.
• Red is time I spend socialising or at least hanging out with another person even if we're being unsociable. 

Spinning My Wheels

I have a tendency to avoid my problems rather than trying to find a way to solve them.

It’s a tactic I have deployed ever since I can remember.

Since my diagnosis with depression, I have found keeping busy helps me manage my mental health. But is this also an avoidance tactic?

I am a sucker for keeping busy. I feel compelled to do it. I’m a volunteer. I’m a volunteer team leader. I’m an ambassador. I work two jobs. I teach a class mid-week. I can’t enjoy free time without feeling guilty that I should be doing something else. So I multi-task. I write blog posts while also catching up with my favourite TV shows. I read or blog during my commute to work. I spend my free time in the bath (relaxing and washing).
I rush from one place to another, armed with my to-do list.
Multi-tasking helps me avoid anxiety, but then causes more anxiety as I struggle to keep on top of all I have taken on.

But continually keeping busy only serves as a distraction from my mental health difficulties. It doesn't address the problem or work to find a solution.
I thought it was healthy to keep busy, but when I was exploring Cause and Effect during Embrace Your Past month, I learned that I was wrong.

As I attempt to Be Free of stress and my busy schedule this month, I need to better understand my multi-tasking.
Little did I know, it can be categorised as a specific type of depression.

Be Free from Clutter

“What we own is not who we are.” – Mike Fisher, ‘Mindfulness and the Art of Managing Anger’

Declutter is the new buzzword. Especially now that we are in Springtime and full-on Spring cleaning mode. We need to clear our homes and our personal spaces of clutter now more than ever. It's Life Changing. It's a transformation. It sparks joy. Apparently we even have ‘clutter personalities’.

Oxford Dictionary describes decluttering as follows:
to "Remove unnecessary items from (an untidy or overcrowded place)"

So this April, I too have decided I want to be free from clutter.

Letting Go/Moving On

"Sometimes we carry a burden from the day; a hurt, an anger or an unhappy recollection. The end of the day is the time to let these things go. Note these thoughts, face them and acknowledge them - and then dismiss them." - Adam Ford

Last month I was delving into my past and sharing my mental health journey on the blog. Writing about my illness was therapeutic, but I need to fully move on from my past.

There are lots of books about leaving the past behind. Many religious self-help books deal with breaking free from your past and the salvation offered by religion. But that's not for me.

I want to find productive ways of being free from what held me back in the past; be it, bullying, self-doubt, self-hatred, stigma.

From reviewing the self-help literature on the topic the consensus is that we must follow certain steps to be free and move on from the past. These steps roughly go as follows:

1. Acknowledge the emotions
2. Let go of anger and blame
3. Let go of guilt
4. Forgive yourself

In March, Embrace Your Past allowed me to acknowledge my emotions. But now I have to find a way of letting them go.

So how do we let go?

Feeling Free

SO, I want to Be Free this month. Sounds great, doesn't it?
But it's a vague term. How will I measure its success?

Ah, you see it's all about how I feel.

I want to feel less like this, and more like this. 

If my brain looks less like a squiggle of multi-tasking, nervous energy and stress then I will deem the month of Be Free a resounding success!

"the free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them." — Charles Bukowski

Here's what I imagine feeling free is like :-

• Refreshing
• Calming
• Empowering
• Stress-Free
• Independent
• Relief
• Liberating
• Happiness
• Sky-diving from an aeroplane
• Having more time
• Having the time to do what I enjoy
• Sitting in the sun in the evening after a day at work
• Even better, having a day off work
• Getting to spend time with friends

Doesn’t it sound fab? Here’s to being free this April.

Introduction to my Be Free Resolution

What I want to be free from

“Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

It's April, and into month four (yes FOUR) of my Romeo Project self-improvement programme.

Embrace your Past leads effortlessly into my April resolution to Be Free. Having spent March immersed in myself and my past, I plan on finding freedom from it, and all else, that holds me back.

But it's a vague term.

What exactly is Be Free?

Oxford Dictionary describes being free as the ability“to act or be done, as one wishes; not under the control of another.”
It's about being, and feeling, in control.

What do I want to Be Free from?
I want to ditch the things that cause me stress, anxiety and boredom. I want to create more free time for myself, to do the things I really enjoy. There are a number of things that I need to cut out of my life to achieve this. This month is about ditching those things.

Here’s what I want to be free from this month:
- Clutter
- My Schedule
- Stress
- Social Media
- Bad books and Bad TV shows
- Negative Feelings (as much as I can)
- The Past
- My Worries
- Expectations
- My Budget