Where are the days that you basically had one form of communication; the phone attached with a cord to your wall. I remember the oh so exciting Christmas morning when I got my first flip phone. I could connect with friends, of course mainly after 9pm when the cell phone provider offered free minutes. Who else remembers this? The phone was the connection to boys, freedom, a sign of growing up; then the anxiety sets in. My mom would always try and bring me back down to reality about this. If you don’t get an instant response, it’s okay, and even more importantly, it’s normal. With the everyday improvements to technology, it has created the mentality of the “instant answer”. When you step back and think about it, it’s not how life works. People have a lot going on and being glued to the phone or other forms of communication just isn’t realistic, but it has slowly become the “norm”. For the most part, unless you are the few who can really disconnect and be in the moment (I applaud you and beg you to teach me), you expect an instant answer and others are expecting it from you too. Instant, now, express, immediate, expedite; even reading these words makes me short of breath but sadly that is how the world works now.

So as you may or may not know, I am a new business owner, CEO in fact.

We operate in the daily changing energy market, where now is now and later is a missed opportunity and a potential loss in thousands.

My business partner and I share 3 emails and then we each have our own. We do our social media in-house so tack on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and this Blog. Add in client and partner communication through calls, text messages, voicemails, emails, and social media. Let’s not forget Slack as well, which we just use between us. All these forms of communication are a necessity and we can’t afford to change it, so the burning question is how do I ever disconnect?

Well I’ll be real with you. I don’t really disconnect often and if I do then my brain is still running through work scenarios and to-do lists. But also, hey that is the reality of a startup, what I signed up for, and I do have to say I love it. I’ll leave it at that my disconnection is a work in progress. I am very aware of it and that’s the first step right? One thing that works for me everyday though is going outside right when I get home from work. Living on a 24 acre farm with animals definitely makes this easier. I think it is key for everyone to unwind, reconnect with disconnecting, and to absorb what’s around you with your eyes and not just through the camera of your phone. I’ll be sure to check back in 6 months and provide an update on my disconnection journey, I’ll also probably add it to my to-do list, but that’s a given.

Written by Eva Gerrits