Today is National Day of Unplugging, a day where you disconnect yourself from your electronic gadgets just to connect with your friends, relatives, society, environment and yourself. Let’s delve deeper into what NDU means and how it can benefit you as a human.

What is NDU?

The National Unplugging Day is an awareness campaign that promotes a 24-hour respite from technology, annually observed the first weekend in March sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday.

How It Started?

The National Day of Unplugging has been around for over a decade, started in 2009 by “Reboot” (a Jewish non-profit organization that started in 2003) in collaboration with the Sabbath manifesto as a way to help people reconnect with their Jewish heritage in a modern way. What was once a small group of people gathering for tech-free Shabbat dinners, turned into thousands of worldwide community partners organizing live unplugged events, year after year.

National day of unplugging is now a project of Unplug Collaborative, a non-profit, membership organization formed in 2020.

What It Is Not

The National Day of Unplugging is not a religious celebration. It is a day that can be celebrated by anyone, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.

Relatable Example

The National Unplugging Day is analogous to the gadgets (phone and PCs) rebooting process. It’s something we often do with our electronic gadgets – phones especially, when they malfunction, we reboot them to start afresh and give them a new beginning. Likewise, National unplugging day is a day to challenge people to keep their electronic devices unplugged and unused for 24 hours in order to give themselves the chance to take a break and spend time relaxing with family, friends, or alone.

Reboot believes that such time taken to “reboot” will make us happier, more content with our lives, and more aware of the things that matter.

How to effectively unplug and go device-free for a day

Celebrating this day is quite simple, all you have to do is to shut down that laptop, jettison that Smartphone at home and avoid emails for 24 hours but the truth is, unplugging or staying away from our favourite electronic devices is quite challenging – I will admit if you won’t.

Why? We spend a lot of time on our smartphones; it is, by far, the most used digital device. More importantly, our smartphones are part of our everyday interactions, from communicating with friends and families to checking emails and paying in shops. However, it will be of innumerable benefits if we can just take a day off these daily routines and take time to reboot our system.

Kim Cavallo, the Executive Director at Unplug Collaborative took to her LinkedIn page and gave us 3 effective ways to successfully unplug and reboot our body system.

Treat it like a Vacation

Put it in your calendar: You’re more likely to follow through when your device-free day is scheduled in advance. This is a great way to kick-start a new habit. Be as intentional as you would with meeting a colleague or having dinner with a friend. Figure out when your unplugged date with yourself will take place and plan accordingly.

Create an itinerary: Think about where you want to be when your senses are not distracted and finally have the chance to open up and take it all in. think back to a time and place when you were inspired to daydream – go there.

Plan ahead and know what you’re doing

Power down your devices and turn on DND: It’s a good idea to prepare ahead of the national day of unplugging and let your friends and relatives know that you will be without a phone for a day to make them worry less about getting in touch with you. Additionally, most people get frustrated when they try to get in touch with someone or expect a quick reply for a pressing issue you’re advised and also helpful to create an automated response for your mailbox so that recipients are also informed that you’re following the national day of unplugging. Make sure your unplugging does not make any negative consequences on your work or relationship.

Feed your fridge if you plan to observe the day at home, and pack enough meals to wherever you plan to go – meal and snack planning is key you know? Make sure you have something to eat so you are not tempted to open up a meal delivery app or order online.

Capture the moment in and unfamiliar way

Don’t do it alone: Organize a game night; nostalgic games from childhood are always a big hit!. Appreciate the great outdoors and go on a nature scavenger hunt with friends, make it a memorable one.

I’m sure you’ll be able to successfully unplug with the 3 step above

Benefits of unplugging

• It reduces stress
• Improves mental health
• Time for relaxation
• Physical benefits

PS: You can practice unplugging any day you feel you need it