How To Unplug: A Simple Guide for Online Entrepreneurs

Oct 11

When you work online, particularly in digital marketing, your workday can feel like an endless stream of pings, notifications, and distractions. Even if you’re not in digital marketing, chances are you spend quite a bit of time marketing your business on social media and in other ways like email marketing.

As a small business owner, you probably also love learning, strategizing, and up-leveling your skills. Maybe you’re in a mastermind, or a coaching program, or a Slack channel of your peers. Adding in what you’re doing to grow and learn in your business, plus constantly being online for marketing, and it can seem nearly impossible to unplug.

And I haven’t even mentioned the school Facebook groups or groups texts from your family…

Chances are, by now you know how you start to feel when the “being on” has reached a point of overwhelm for you.

You probably start to feel:

distracted
like you can’t finish anything
constantly interrupted
restless
anxious

These are all signs you probably need to unplug for a bit.

By unplugging, I mean doing far more than turning my cell phone to silent.

One of the ways you can start to train yourself to unplug is by doing your best to be present with whatever you’re doing and not multitasking.

➡️If you start your day by grabbing your phone and reading the news while you’re drinking coffee, you’re multitasking.

➡️If you listen to the latest business podcast while you’re brushing your teeth, you’re multitasking.

➡️If you scroll Instagram while your kiddo is going over their spelling list for the week with you, you’re multitasking.

Practicing presence (not easy, but doable) will help train that unplugged muscle for when you want to detach from the online world, but you’re itching to pick up your phone like a nervous tic.

My favorite time to practice presence is first thing in the morning because it sets the tone for the rest of the day.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you to do some crazy 1-2 hour morning routine involving getting up at 4 am, with somehow your kids not waking up and interrupting you - that’s not real life if you’re a parent of young kids.

If your kids are past that age, then congrats - do whatever works for you in the morning.

Every time I have tried to get up 20 minutes earlier than I think my kids will get up, some inexplicable mama connection means they wake up earlier too. So, we get up and start the morning as a family.

It is effort to simply enjoy my cup of coffee without checking email “real quick” or opening up the news.

And while you think you’re being “productive” trying to get done every smidge of work and admin that doesn’t require sitting down at your computer — squeezing in a text here, an email there — you’re actually not doing anything particularly well.

Let me let you in on a little secret…

Your to-do list will never be done and there will never be another hour in the day.

Learning to focus on the most important priorities, eliminate context switching with Theme Day Planning, and say no to anything that doesn’t move you forward, is the key to both accomplishing more and unplugging more.

I reached an overwhelm tipping point a few years ago that led to one of the best ah-ha moments I’ve ever had as an online entrepreneur.

I’d love to share that story because:

you can probably relate to the point I was at, and
it might inspire you to take unplugging very seriously

Different project management tasks were swirling around in my head, I was living on coffee and crackers, and sleep was down to around 6 hours a night. I was frazzled, irritable, and hungry. I was bouncing from one half-finished task to the other - interrupted constantly by emails, texts, the kiddo/hubby, the dog, etc.

I had put on my calendar several weeks before that I was going to go hang out with a friend I hadn't seen in quite some time, during the middle of the week. We touched base at the beginning of the week, and I shoved down the feeling of to-do panic. Her house is about an hour away and I knew I needed to make arrangements for the kids and client work.

I stayed up until midnight for two nights before my getaway day preparing to be out of the office for the whole day. I told my clients I'd be unavailable (gasp!) and scheduled every single pin and post for several days ahead.

I got up in the morning, got the kiddo to school, swung by the store to pick up supplies (read: mimosas), and hit the road.

My friend and I caught up, we chatted, we laughed, we pontificated, we pow-wowed, we lunched, we shopped, we compared notes, we solved all the world's problems.

The entire day I didn't so much as unlock my phone. Several times I turned on the screen to make sure there were no emergency family calls, but I literally didn't so much as open a single app.

I came home, went to bed early, and woke up the next day after 7.5 (again, gasp!) hours of sleep feeling refreshed, happy, and ready to take on the day.

It was everything I thought it would be and more.

You hear the advice about taking time for yourself and unplugging, but it's not until you reach that breaking point and experience the difference taking the time to unplug actually makes, that it sinks home.

So… how are you supposed to do this on a consistent basis when you are juggling home, family, and business?

One minute at a time!

Start with a few minutes

At the top of every hour, go to Do Nothing For 2 Minutes - you must sit, zone out and listen for 2 whole minutes. If you move your mouse or touch your keyboard the timer starts over. The first 30 seconds feels like an eternity of thinking about all the things you should be doing instead. Then your mind shifts, you calm down, and it's over. You're then prepared to wrap your head around the next task on your list.

Your two minutes can be using this website, or stepping away from the computer and stretching, or whatever. Take the time to gather yourself without distractions before moving on to the next to do.

Move on to 20 minutes

Take a walk.
Work on a vision board (or something creative).
Do yoga.
Organize something (if organizing makes you happy).
Have a cup of tea or coffee.
Read for pleasure.
Listen to music.
Have a (healthy) snack.
Doodle in a notebook

Above all, it must be something that doesn't involve a digital screen. If you only read on an eReader, go to the library and check out a book. It saves you money and doesn't tempt you to click over to Pinterest.

Don't underestimate the power of staring out the window and letting your mind wander. You'll be amazed how solutions to problems seem to magically rise to the surface.

You might only be able to start with one or two of these breaks a day. That's ok - you gotta start somewhere.

Upgrade to an hour

Eat an actual meal sitting at your table with no devices handy.
Do any of the 20-minute activities for an hour instead.
Go for a scenic drive.

You might only have time to take a true hour-long break a couple/few times a week. Again - that's ok.

Take a half-day

Go for a hike.
Go see a movie.
Go shopping (if you love shopping - and I don't mean running errands)
Go explore a new town, beach, etc.
Take a creative class like photography basics or painting.

Take all day

Seriously - either go somewhere alone, go visit a friend, or take a family day trip.

You might have to do more work on the front-end to prepare, but holy cow will you reap the rewards.

To reiterate - these are not activities to be done while you have one eye on your phone, innocently checking Facebook to see who liked your picture from yesterday.

These are activities to be done with your phone on silent (not vibrate), away from your computer or any other digital screen.

Yes, you'll need to glance at your phone to make sure there are no calls from the hubby or school, but you don't need to go further than that. Your fingers will itch to do so - don't do it. DON'T.

If you want to be really bold — try going somewhere without your phone.

Here are some other ways I have found to take a few minutes for myself and unplug:

I shower at night right after I put the kids to bed (TMI? Don't know, don't care). This serves two purposes...

If I tried to shower in the morning during the chaos, it either wouldn't happen or my shower would be all of 5 minutes.
By showering at night, I take as long as I damn well please and it helps me transition to the calm of the evening - even though I usually have more work to do.

I make evenings with my family the priority.

All my clients know I am unavailable from around 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM - period. That is my time with my family without any other demands.

Saturdays are unplugged days.

I made a commitment to leave my phone plugged in on my nightstand on Saturdays. I don’t so much as pick it up until usually late afternoon. And then it’s only to do a quick check for texts and phone calls - no social media.

Here's the beauty of being a work-from-home mom - you have more demands on your energy and time than you can handle - yet your schedule is more flexible than you'd ever get with an office job.

✅Need to take half a day to drive to the beach while the kids are at school? Doable if you plan for working before or after.

✅Need to walk around your neighborhood at 1:45 PM to get some fresh air and let your mind wander? Totally doable.

You most likely decided to work from home because you craved the flexibility and being able to prioritize your family. It is so easy to get sucked into working every waking minute to make it all happen, and phones/computers/tablets have us leashed like never before.

“If you work on mindfully unplugging, you will be calmer and more able to problem-solve without feeling drained and pulled in a gazillion different directions.”

— Cara Chace

Conclusion:

Practicing presence and eliminating multitasking is a great way to build the muscle you need to create your own unplugged time as an online entrepreneur. It’s also helpful to learn how to spot the signs that you’re overwhelmed and need to unplug for your own mental and emotional health. From just a few minutes to taking all day, learning to put down your phone and unplug from your online world will help you reset and refocus.