Hi there, and welcome back to Cocktail Hour with Carly! It’s been raining so much in Pennsylvania lately they should rename it PennsylRAINia. Awful joke, but still rings true with the gloomy weekend weather we’ve been experiencing. One nice thing though, look at my squash! I have four or five now and they’ll hopefully be ready for harvest in just a few short weeks.

Let’s get into the topic of this week. How a tech free evening was able to rekindle some of my creativity. This took place over a span of several nights as I’ve been quite busy as of late. Here’s how my evenings typically start out: I’m scrolling on the couch for practically the whole evening and don’t accomplish anything I want to. I wind up annoyed at myself for wasting my few hours of free time on consuming short form content. I try to cut myself a break every so often and allow myself to scroll and not feel guilty. I don’t need to constantly spend every moment being productive in terms of hobbies or spending my time in the best way possible. The focus is to just foster a much healthier relationship with my phone by creating tech free spaces and tech free time slots.

Here’s how I spent the evening(s): I finished a book. My fourteenth of the year, actually. I now started Sunrise on the Reaping, which is the new Hunger Games installment. I have a lot more time for reading now and I’m slowly working through my lengthy and growing to be read list. I did some journaling and flipped through my old entries. It’s pretty neat to see it as a living time capsule of where I used to be at in life and where my head was at. I think I’ve made a lot of progress. 🙂 I had dinner with my family followed by a lap around our neighborhood. Trying to get in the habit of that. It feels good to get some extra steps in, and it’s good for digestion. I did some weight lifting so I can have gigantic hulk arms to scare away the village people with. Most importantly, I worked on my DIY book nook kit. This one is a train station with cherry tree blossoms. It’s my third one so far and my wonderful fiancé was kind enough to surprise me with another. He’s deployed right now and I’m bored. I have to do something with my time, ya know? By the way, I’ll link one at the bottom of this post for people that love crafts. It’s a great way to work with your hands and they come with all necessary supplies. I also planned out some bullet journaling sessions that I’ve been putting off.

My mood was much better when I was screen free. I’m even a lot more relaxed typing this up and listening to relaxing music versus scrolling. I felt my thoughts start to relax more and slow down. I’m normally moving at a mile a minute and it’s nice to take a deep breath and hit the pause button.

My Challenge to You, Dear Readers, is to try this out for an hour for an evening or even the whole night. You can spend it however you want. I actually typically start mine out by completing a small list of tasks I’m behind on like ironing, laundry, vacuuming etc. Also, create a tech free tool kit if you feel so inclined! Put all your items in a box to pull from that can include games to play with your family, books, and whatever you’d like. Mine would include whatever book I’m reading, a candle, my bullet journal, my regular journal, a book of sheet music for my piano, and whatever craft I’m working on at the moment. I’ve included a list full of tips, tricks, and ideas that you can use as a reference.

Set the scene

• Light a candle, use softer lighting, and turn off the devices/lower the volume on anything that has to be on in the background.

Things to do screen free

• Try out a new recipe, I’ll be sharing my recipe for my glazed salmon soon
• Read a book or magazine
• Try a puzzle or a card game with friends or family.
• Do a brain dump to get everything on your mind out on paper.
• Take a walk with no headphones. Listen to the world around you with no external stimulation.
• Work on a craft.
• Tackle those annoying tasks you’ve been putting off for too long. Trust me, you’ll feel better.
• Play an instrument
• Try learning a new language
• Get a pen pal and write them a letter
• Look at other ideas online, because it’s 10 p.m. and some of us have to shower before work tomorrow.

Bonus tips and tricks

• Alert your family of your tech free plans for the evening
• Use a physical clock or watch to track the time. I recommend putting your phone away to avoid temptation.
• Start small, try setting the device aside for an hour at a time and see how you feel. Notice your difference in mood if any. Do you feel distressed? Any FOMO? More relaxed?

Tune in next week for an overview of the books I’ve read so far this year with my recommendations as we are now halfway through the year. Where does the time go? As always, thanks for reading, and have a fantastic rest of your week.

Cocktail hour with Carly,

Signing Off.

P.S. here’s the link to the website where I get my book nooks at. Book Nooks