Hello, my beloved friends, who are kind enough to subscribe to this humble publication of mine! I hope you’re doing well.
It’s been a while (a month and a half, actually) since I last wrote anything here. I was struggling with work for the past month, along with the passing of a family member, I almost felt like I lost my momentum at some point. That’s why I decided to take a short break from writing and my online social life in general.
Turns out, it was a wise choice.
Digital Detox - My Escape
I’m not someone who is mentally strong enough to deal with even the slightest disturbance in life, therefore, running away seems to be a plausible solution. Besides, every event that happened in the past month made me realize I am in dire need of a calm and peaceful place where I can sit alone with my thoughts or simply take a deep breath before moving forward.
I’m currently working for a small technology firm, the total headcount is just around 10 to 20. Our previous product has not been performing very well, so here I am, working my tail off for the new product, struggling with the workload of at least four people.
So…running away? Traveling elsewhere? No, I simply can’t. Now that my brother has started his higher education just earlier this year, I’m the only one working to provide for the whole family.
As July gently tapped me on the shoulder, my “revenge bedtime procrastination” came back and greeted me like a good old friend. A week later, my grandma passed away after spending two months in a coma following her stroke. The news left our entire family devastated, I’ve never felt so…sunken.
And since I could not run away “physically”, I decided to just give myself a dose of “digital detox”.
Emotional Healing
Every night, I’ve found myself buried in the glow of my phone, surfing the Internet in search of entertainment. Interestingly enough, I was completely aware of how it intensified my stress as it overloaded my senses. Yet, I just couldn’t give it up.
But since it was eating away at my mental well-being and constantly left me more anxious and drained every morning, I chose to embrace the peace of not giving a sh!t about social media.
I set up some curfews for myself, like a child first learning about discipline from her strict parents. I switched my phone to silent and only answered phone calls or text messages if they required immediate attention. It took me quite some time to fend off that tempting “Just five minutes” thought, but it felt really satisfying when you successfully nailed a habit that you know is good for you.
Two hours of social media every night before bedtime, and then I toss the phone aside when I need to rest. This newfound discipline significantly improved my sleep. Without the constant influx of notifications and the temptation to scroll endlessly, my mind felt clearer and more at ease. At the end of the day, the key to digital detox to me was limiting the aimless browsing and stepping out of the social media nonsense.
The reduction in blue light exposure from the phone also played a role, I can feel my body’s natural sleep rhythms have slowly taken over. Get up on the wrong side of the bed? Nope, I’m breakdancing in my sleep and still feeling fantastic waking up.
As I’m no longer longing for my online presence, I start to spend time observing my emotions and finally find myself some peace that I’ve always wanted. Though my mind is still an unorganized bookshelf, I’m feeling much better.
Goodbye digital burnout, hello sanity!
Healthy Distractions
The absence of the phone during most time of my day has left room for an interesting hobby that I’ve never thought I would pick up: crocheting.
The idea of crocheting never crossed my mind until one of my closest friends showed me her little stuffed bee keychain that she had made herself. I was so awestruck that I asked her if she could teach me how to do it, to which she gladly agreed. And there goes my story of how I started crocheting my free time away.
She then gave me the pattern for the bee keychain she had made. I was so excited that I dove right in, thinking I could finish it in three hours. In fact, it took me four days, with countless redos. And since I used the velvet yarn to crochet (wrong choice for a beginner, by the way), the yarn just became more tattered after each retry. However, I managed to summon the bee successfully, even though he looks like he's perpetually constipated.
Feeling proud as if I had just defeated a boss in Elden Ring, I decided to move on to crochet even more, each time with something new. I joined a small crocheting club (my aunt and her friends, actually) and they helped me a lot in the process. At this point, my phone just became invisible to me. Normally, I couldn’t imagine a day without my phone, but it seems like I’m even better off without it.
As I lost myself in each stitch that my hook dove into, I realized there was something else I had abandoned for quite some time amidst everything that had happened: my ukulele. It was sitting on the top of the shelf, right in front of my desk in my room, just like a forgotten treasure. Before long, the melody of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” started ringing through my home once again.
These healthy distractions, from crocheting to playing my ukulele, have provided a much-needed escape from the online network. They have offered me a sense of accomplishment and joy, helping me to heal and find balance in my life. With each project and every strum of my ukulele, I am reminded that there is beauty and peace to be found in the simplest of things, away from the aimless browsing and the buzzing of social media notifications.
Reconnection
This whole “digital-free” treatment not only helps me reconnect with myself but also my friends and family.
Each time I went out for a cup of coffee with my friends, all we did was sit and stare intensively into our screens. The fact that we could do that for hours without much conversation really amazes me. And now, I start giving away coasters that I crocheted to them, our coffee outings are filled with “real” conversations as I share my projects with them and we all laugh at how goofy they turn out. As the conversation went on, I got quite a bunch of great ideas for the next projects that I should do from my friends’ suggestions.
I used the same tactic with my family, gifting coasters to practically everyone. The good news is that it brought smiles to their faces, and I was even invited to join the crochet club with my aunt. The bad news? One of the aunts genuinely loves my goofy crochet and has placed an order for a purse, and I'm already struggling to keep up with the patterns.
This reconnection with my loved ones has been incredibly fulfilling so far. It has reminded me of the importance of being present and cherishing the moments we have together. Stepping away from the digital world has not only allowed me to rediscover my passions but also to rebuild and enrich the relationships that truly matter.
My Eyes And My Head
Ever since the company went through a huge recession, and I had to take on other people’s work in my shift, I’ve never been so glued up tight to a screen before. So much so that I can easily notice my eyesight is worsening drastically. I think it’s a pain to say that my eyes are now sponsored by over-exposure to 70% brightness screens, I can’t tell who’s who if they are 50 meters away from me, and it always comes down to “Yea, I saw you waving but not actually seeing you there so I’m not waving back” kind of excuse. The next thing I knew, I soon unlocked my new skill of relying on my other senses to recognize a person from afar — judging by their gaits, their clothes, and sometimes, their voices.
And when I lied down on my bed, I could even feel the throbbing pain at the back of my head. Though giving up my phone for just a few weeks has given me a tremendous boost in my performance. My head feels much lighter, inside and out. And thank goodness, this whole "digital detox" has given me more rest than I ever thought I needed. It also becomes noticeablethat I no longer strain my eyes when looking at my laptop. It's amazing how stepping back from constant screen time has eased the tension in my eyes, though my eyesight has already taken a hit, staying away from screens, especially late at night, is the least I can do to give my eyes a break.
…So?
Alright, I think I'll wrap it up here before this turns into a rambling monologue from a twenty-something teenager or a chapter in a self-help book. But those are just some updates on what I've been up to during my, uh, disappearance these past few weeks.
Due to my tight schedule (and also, I’m currently focusing on looking for a new job), I might be able to post one or two article per month from now on. To those who've been with me since the beginning of this humble publication, if you are reading this, thank you for sticking around through it all.
And if you are the new subscribers, and still decided to stay even though I haven’t posted anything new, you have my forever gratitude.
Hope you have a great day, I’ll soon be back with a new article in 🔎Mystery soon!
Our condolences, and welcome back!
Great to have you back Lee and very sorry for your loss. An insightful piece as always!