Before I fill this note with jargon, stories and other things.
I have had countless friends, colleagues, family complaining about the constant bombardment of webinars and online meetings in the last 3-4 months.
Many are overwhelmed with this new work culture. With almost all companies investing in more of remote work services this is going to continue.
Here it is, how to detox and stay sane in these times of constant requests for webinars and online meetings?
Answer: Try no Internet Saturday i.e block the internet from your life for 1 day every week.
What are the effects of an overdose of digital media or webinars?
1)Sleeplessness
2) headaches
3) irritation in eyes
4) back pain
5)Anxiety
Now starting with the experience of doing no Internet Saturday, it’s benefits and what to do on that day.
I had a similar overdose of digital media and online meetings in the year 2015. During November and December 2015, I was waiting for my work visa for China with Tech Mahindra. The office work was simple in those months as the nature of my work was going to change once I moved to China.
So to keep myself busy I started
1)learning courses through udemy, edx and Coursera
2) helping friends in beta testing their apps and games due to my background in gaming and software development.
3) reading e-books on mobile apps forensics, game development and SaaS tools.
This added to hours I spend daily in front of my computer and phone. Doing long online GoToMeeting calls with friends to discuss their apps and games.
Slowly it piled to 18-19 hours of online work/web meetings.
I started getting above mentioned problems of headache, sleeplessness etc.
That’s when I decided to follow my friend Bhushan’s method of no Internet Saturday.
Bhushan is an avid digital media guru. We were in our business school together followed by our stint in Tech Mahindra.
Bhushan started doing no Internet Saturday to detox himself from constant online creative work first with Sokrati and then Tech Mahindra.
So what should you do on this no Internet Saturday?
1) disconnect your phones mobile data
2) disconnect your WiFi, broadband
3) do a physical exercise for at least 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening possibly with some weights
4) do 20 minutes of meditation (not breathing exercise) possibly between 7 am to 8 am.
5) Take a 15 minutes walk ( safe walk if you are still under lockdown conditions)
This will keep you busy and emotionally balanced to keep going through the day away from the Internet.
Benefits of this routine are as follows
1) Reduces stress and depression
2) Balances emotions
3) improves focus and memory
4) Regulates heart rate
Let me know in the comment section if this has helped you. If you are facing more of these problems do drop me a note in my inbox and I’ll look forward to helping you with more robust ideas.