Timeout to Tune In

Happy April! It’s been 90 days. How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? I’m happy to report that one significant work-life balance change that was made in the Murray household has made a significant difference, giving us back an enormous amount of quality time together!

On January 1, 2015, we made a resolution that we would not allow any smartphone or I-devices into the bedroom, including Kindle books on our IPads. Well, we allowed one slight modification to that rule — Ron actually reads books on his IPad Kindle. I can look like, a.k.a. “pretend,” I’m reading a book on my IPad but I’m constantly checking my website or an online article or my Twitter or my LinkedIn or Facebook. Who am I kidding? So, both my iPad and my iPhone have stayed downstairs in the kitchen each night since New Years’ Day.

Truth be told, I went cold turkey and it’s not as bad as I thought. I’ve always loved to read and now it means that I take my book, article or magazine to bed and I read it the same as I’ve done most of my life — I’m taking notes, interrupting Ron to ask him a quick question or to read something interesting to him. He’s the type of reader/person you can interrupt at any time as he’s always more happy to engage face-to-face and be part of what I’m wondering or thinking. Since our New Year’s resolution, he senses that I’m more present and not experiencing as much “associative looseness,” flitting around online. It’s actually been quite freeing to go off-line for the night. I sleep less stressed and feel more connected to Ron. And, I don’t hear those swoosh sounds or distracting and unexpected alarms on my IPhone through the night.

We’re on track to our continued healthier and more tuned in focus on one another and enjoying the peace and quiet of “just the two of us” rather than the distracting, isolating and draining noise of the many competitive voices on the Internet. We agree that having an emotionally intelligent (EQ) marriage is as important as the EQ strategies I help businesses and their members achieve.

It’s not too late to start new off-line habits in your house as your New Year’s resolution. What you waiting for? Take a timeout to tune in — “When you are where you are, be there.”

Image from: Clock of Grandmaster’s Palace, Valletta, Malta by Eric Bézine.