In the world we live in it is not always easy to detach from your phone or from technology in general. Either your job expects you to be available 24/7, or your professor loads you up with online homework assignments. Even if it’s not required, a lot of what we do requires technology. Our new hobbies whether they be reading books, learning to code, playing a video game, or pinning your next craft on pinterest, our world revolves around technology.

Throughout all of this, we lose a piece of our connection with reality. We are living in a world reliant on the internet, which to an extent is a made up reality.

While something like Pokemon Go is doing incredible things to push people to be active it makes me question, do you really need to play a game to go on a walk? Do we need to take a photo of everything we do and post it to instagram? Do we need to text someone all day instead of talking to them in person?

I am guilty of doing all of these things, but I also take the time out to reconnect. I go on walks not just to catch pokemon. I walk while enjoying time with my family. Yesterday we went to a museum and yeah I spent a few minutes here and there on the hunt, but during most of my time there my phone was away.

I like to take photos to capture memories, but sometimes you have to leave your phone at home. Yeah, you might miss a great photo op, but you’ll spend that time not focused on lighting or angles, you’ll spend it enjoying. Instead of worrying about capturing an image to remember your time, you will live it and focus on the beauty around you. That will be just as good.

One thing I’ve learned is most conversations go better in person. So unless it is an important decision that has to be made, or you are away for some period of time, wait. Wait to talk in person. Through that you can convey your tone of voice, body language, and so many other things. Text conversations and even phone calls can get heated quickly, and while a face to face conversation can too, depending on the situation, it tends to be easier 9 times out of 10 to handle.

At a time where technology is so important and evolving every day, we need to also push ourselves the other way. We have to force ourselves to detach, in order to grow and learn in another way. Learn to live detached from your phone. Learn to live so you don’t feel drawn to need it with you at all times. Force yourself to spend time without it.

We need to be well rounded individuals, but to do that we need time to just be. Time without looking at what others are doing. As a society we have put such an emphasis of letting others know what we are doing, and watching through snapchat, instagram, facebook, and so many other facets what our peers are doing. This does something unnatural to us. It simply makes us jealous and feel like we aren’t enough.

Your life is a enough, you are doing enough, and your life is good. Don’t compare the 100 percent of yourself that you know, to the 10 percent of someone else that you see online. You don’t know them the way you think you do. You don’t know their struggles, but social media lets us believe we know everything about someone.

Stop checking your phone every five minutes. Limit yourself in small increments and try to scale back this dependence. Only then will you find happiness and an inner peace with yourself.