Technology free days breed creativity. As business owners we’ve seen technology begin to take an increasingly large role in our lives. From all the moving parts of internet marketing to productivity tools, to the fact that almost everything you need to do is in some way connected to a device that is connected to a network, it never ends.
You can quickly get oversaturated by technology. When something breaks and technology isn’t working, all hell breaks loose and business slows to a crawl as you race frantically to get help from often wildly unhelpful technical support. Overwhelming at best, exasperating at its worse.
If you want to be creative, alive, effective, and successful in your business you need to occasionally get out and go low tech.
Why is this important?
First, from an inner awareness and personal excellence standpoint, you can’t be creative if you’re so saturated with technology demands that there is no space in your psyche. You know the feeling… your brain literally hurts and you get to the point where you feel like you couldn’t find your way out of a paper bag. Definitely NOT the mindset to be in for innovation, creativity, and strategic decision making.
The reality is too few small business women take time out – from the business AND the office – to get the creative juices flowing. When was the last time you just took a half or full day to create space in your mind, body, and soul?
The more doing and doing you’re doing, the less chance you have to feed any of the creativity needed to be successful, innovate, or solve problems. When it comes to strategic planning and making wise decisions along the way, it is near impossible to do that sort of creative brainstorming and planning without getting away from it all. You don’t need to rent office space or go on a luxury getaway, you only need to disconnect for a while and get out of the usual mode of operation.
We tend to stay glued to our PC and our office figuring if we just work a little harder everything will fall into place. Unfortunately, if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten. If you’re looking to start or grow your business, that’s not going to work so well.
Now, let’s look at some practical action you can take to make some low tech time a reality. Even if you know you should take the time but you aren’t actually doing it then you get nowhere.
- Give yourself permission: You need to accept the fact that your business will grow faster and you’ll be more productive if you take this low tech time away.
- Remove yourself from the office: Ideally you want to get out of your usual environment. Whether it is a full-fledged retreat or simply time at the park or coffee shop, just get out.
- Leave technology, plans, and spreadsheets home: Free yourself from all the stuff and simply carry in your head and heart a vision for yourself and your business.
- Fall in love with pen and paper: I’m all about getting as paperless as possible and yet I love to physically write on something. Magic happens when you remove the technology that stands between you and your ideas and creative process.
- Rejoice in the process and space: Bring nourishing food and refreshments. Be comfortably dressed. Breathe deeply. Take note of being present and enjoy the freedom from interruptions, technology, and gadgets (even if it makes you nervous and gives you a twitch of withdrawal at first).
I encourage you to try out a low-tech day within the next 30 days to truly set your business on course for the year ahead!
You are so right, Paula. It always amazes me how refreshed and inspired I am when I unplug and go do something I want to do that I rarely make time for. In the last two weeks, I've had the opportunity to have a museum day and a drawing class. Both help me with my art as well as my psyche!