Offline Vacation

According to a mental expert, the typical teen uses social media for around nine
hours every day. Social networking has given us a lot of fantastic benefits.
Unfortunately, it has less beneficial impacts, such as cyberbullying and poor sleeping
habits. Experts on mental health advise taking periodic breaks from social media.
Disconnecting from our phones and reestablishing relationships with one another and
ourselves will benefit us greatly (Brenner, 2013). In my experience, the negative impact
that I experience is that I cannot entirely focus on the task that I am working on. Every
time I hear my phone ring or vibrate, I cannot fight the urge to check my phone to see
my notifications. I easily get distracted by the beep sound of my phone resulting in not
being able to finish my task on the schedule I intended. For the two days of offline
vacation that I did in regard to the activity, I re-experience some fun experiences with
my family, and I felt that I become more productive.

Day 1

Day 1 of my offline vacation lasted for around 3 hours and 45 minutes. I started
my day 1 by turning off all of my gadgets including my cell phone before we go to SM
Valenzuela. When I was in the car it was kind of irritating to me that I cannot browse my
social media accounts since I feel bored inside the car. When we arrived at our
destination, we look around the mall and buy some things that we need in our house.
And when we finally went to Yellow Cab, I still have the urge to look at my phone,
however, this time I tried to talk and play a bit with my nieces. Without consciously
knowing it, I was also having a lot of fun and did enjoy it. When we were going home,
we were still playing inside the car full of energy and laughter.
Day 2

For day 2 of my offline vacation, I took an extra Taekwondo training last Sunday,
which lasted for exactly 2 hours. I also started day 2 by turning off my gadgets to keep
me reminded that I was on offline vacation. During our break time, I was quite jealous of
my teammates since they can use their phones during our break. So, to fight the urges
that I felt, I just did some extra exercises such as push-ups and sit-ups. And after the
training, I was quite more tired than usual since I consumed my breaks by taking some
extra exercises instead of checking and scrolling down my phone. Although I was tired, I
felt satisfied with the productivity that I demonstrated during the training.
To sum it all up, during my offline vacation, it was quite hard for me to start the
activity since checking my phone and scrolling down is like muscle memory to my body
that keeps me from starting the activity. With this, I see how my time is deeply eaten by
social media. During the activity, I re-experience playing outside of the digital and I find
it fun and memorable. Also, being away with my phone makes me productive even a
little as mentioned above. With this experience, I conclude that this activity empowered
me to continue my offline vacation at least once or twice a week.
Reference

Brenner, Joanna. (2013, August 5). Social Networking. Pew Research. Retrieved June 29, 2022,
from pediatrics.aappublication.org