That person staring at you from across the table looks familiar.
Oh, it’s your dinner date.
You haven’t gone five minutes without checking your email or social media. Sad.
Well, perhaps you can make amends - at least for a few hours.
The 8th annual National Day of Unplugging, launched by the global nonprofit Reboot, begins at sundown today and ends at sundown on Saturday. The campaign encourages people to power down from non-emergency technology for 24 hours.
According to a 2015 study by Deloitte, people in the United States check with smartphone an average of 46 times a day.
Reboot has more than 150 partners doing events for the National Day of Unplugging worldwide with more than 30,000 people expected to participate in direct activities through those partners.
“We are hearing from people all over the world that this is something that is resonating with them,” said Tanya Schevitz, a spokeswoman for Reboot and the National Day of Unplugging “In the past three years of the project, from 2013-2016, we had 256,849 visitors to our website. That Includes all 50 U.S. states and 206 countries.”
It will give Alpharetta resident Mary Esna-Ashari , 35, more time to spend with her husband and their dog. They plan to go for a long walk and then she will go to a yoga class.
Esna-Ashari, director of education and support for the Georgia chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, figures she’s on devices between 10 and 12 hours a day. The first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is to check her email and Facebook account on her smartphone. Then she works on a computer during the day.
“I don’t think people realize how much time they spend on their devices,” she said. To prepare the shutdown, Esna-Ashari bought a traditional alarm clock. She started not looking at her phone until 9 a.m. “I’ve already started accepting boundaries for myself.”
She hopes some of it will carry over beyond the campaign. “I really think I’m going to like unplugging at times and talk with my friends and family in person instead of by text.”
Locally, Unplug Atlanta is hosting an event to help technology addicts to re-connect with life and people. There will be a SweetWater Brewing Company, 195 Ottley Drive N.E., tour and tasting and guests receive a cell phone sleeping bag at the door. The event will feature engaging Sensory Stations that will allow guests to experience (without the distraction of their phones) visual performances by The Off Centered Project. Blindfolded SweetWater beer tasting station will allow guests to taste the beer in a new way. All of the fun stations will engage your senses, set up an environment to create new conversations with others, all while listening to live music.
Tickets are $12 at the door.
About the Author
