Shut off, Shut down

Hands up, who constantly checks their phone throughout the day?

I am so guilty of this, and even find myself holding on to my phone when I'm not even using it. After reading an article in the press recently I was not surprised to hear that the average smart phone user checks their phone 221 times A DAY.

That's a lot of times!

As much as personal gadgets have become a necessity, there needs to be a balance. This is behind how Endsleigh's Shut off, Shut down after 9pm initiative came about.

Endsleigh got in touch to challenge me to switch off all my gadgets (phone, laptop, iPad) for one week only, after 9pm every evening. Ashamedly, I have to admit that I was hesitant to take up the challenge! I'm well known to my family and friends at not being able to switch off. 

I decided to do it and set about thinking about what I would do to keep myself amused. I enlisted my boyfriend to 'help' me (he took away my laptop and phone every night), and I purchased a few books and DVD's to get me through the week.

The first evening was quite easy - I almost found it to be a novelty! I spent most of my week preparing for Christmas - writing cards to people, wrapping presents and, decorating the tree. 

I also found myself taking a book to bed, having long baths and one night my boyfriend turned off all his gadgets and we had a movie night which was lovely as although we spend a lot of time together, one (or both) of us usually get distracted by our phones. 

There was a lot of pampering which, was much needed. After a couple of days, I didn't really think about my phone or opening up my laptop to check on the new in section of ASOS or work on a blog post.

It wasn't until day five that I broke! I felt bad that I didn't see it through to the end but working everyday in front of a computer, and then coming home and blogging has also made me realise that I need to take regular breaks and spend some time away from screens. I love reading so, I'll definitely be swapping my phone and laptop for a book a couple of times a week.

Have you tried switching off your gadgets at night? I highly recommend it.