It’s Time to Unplug for a Day in Memphis and Southaven

Walk into any coffee shop, restaurant, or even a doctor’s waiting room, and you’ll notice one common theme: adults and children alike with a smartphone or tablet in hand, gaming, texting, and scrolling their time away. And while technology allows us to connect with family and friends across the globe, get a peek into the lives of people we’d otherwise never meet, and share news in an instant, sometimes we could all benefit from a digital break.

So if you’ve ever found yourself reaching for your phone while out to dinner with your spouse, occupying your son with a game of Angry Birds while you wait for an appointment, or sending a happy birthday text instead of calling, National Day of Unplugging might be just what the doctor ordered.

From sundown on the first Friday of March to sundown the following day, National Day of Unplugging challenges families to put down their gadgetry. That’s right, no texting, tweeting, status updating, or candy crushing for 24 hours. What should you do instead? Here are 10 possibilities:

1. Cook together as a family. Flip through some cookbooks or ask your great aunt for her famous pie recipe. Even the younger kids can get involved by mixing and stirring.
2. Look through old photo albums or watch those family videos that have been collecting dust in the back of your closet.
3. Bring out the board games and enjoy a little family competition. The team who loses has to clean up after dinner.
4. Go for a walk or bike ride, or the next best outdoor activity, weather permitting. .
5. Deliver home-make cards, crafts, or baked goods to a nursing home or to an elderly neighbor.
6. Call your mom, dad, grandma, or cousin. Or, reach out to that long lost friend you keep thinking about.
7. Volunteer at a homeless shelter or soup kitchen.
8. Whether it’s just a dresser drawer or an entire room, re-organize something in your home.
9. Enjoy some quiet time reading, listening to music, or just thinking without any digital distractions.
10. Have an unplugged party, no technology allowed?

Other than calling someone you haven’t talked to in a while, you’re also “allowed” to use the phone on your particular day of unplugging if, for example, a sudden problem with your home heating, AC, or plumbing system requires you to contact the indoor comfort specialists at Conway Services. Heck, we’ll even return your email if that’s easier for you. Whatever it takes, we’ll get the problem fixed just as quickly as we can so you can get back to enjoying your home and family.