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In the past week, I’ve hinted around at my word for the year in my top 4 favorite books post and in my goals post. Did you guess what you thought it was?
The word actually came to me in November, but it scared me and I honestly was hoping another word would pop up instead. But nope, that word kept coming back to me again and again.
I mulled it over and I asked Jesse for his input. I told him that it felt like it was the word I was supposed to pick, but also that it felt daunting to me.
Ever have that happen? Where you known in your heart of hearts you’re supposed to say yes to something or try something or step out and move forward with something or commit to something… but that something feels a little (or a lot!) intimidating. Like, you know it’s going to require you to make changes that aren’t easy but will ultimately be really good?
That’s me with my word of the year this year. The more I sat with it, the more I knew it was the right word, even though I know to walk it out is going to require some changes… but these will ultimately be really good changes.
What is the word? It’s… unplugged.
Yes, you can chuckle that someone who makes her livelihood online and words full-time running an internet business is choosing the word “unplugged”. Like I said, it’s going to stretch me to live it out. But, I really believe that it’s going to be impactful in a way that just might completely change my life!
What Will It Mean to Be Unplugged?
First off, the inspiration for this word came from reading both The Unplugged Hours: Cultivating a Life of Presence in a Digitally Connected World and Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks With Monks and Amish Farmers Helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human.
As I was reading each book, it’s like my heart and body took a big exhale. I want to experience the richness of life that is waiting for me when I fully unplug and focus on what’s right in front of me.
Of course, since I have an internet business, I can’t just do away with my phone and my computer — and I have no desire to do so! But I do have a deep longing to spend some time completely unplugged every day.
For me, unplugging will mean that my phone and my computer are turned off and put away for chunks of the day. I want to live more untethered to the internet and the only way to do that for me is to completely shut down and put away screens for sections of the day.
How I Plan to Live This Word
Choosing a word is one thing. But just choosing it isn’t going to change anything. Instead, you need to design a plan to help you live out your word.
So, in addition to setting monthly goals for unplugged time, I have devised a plan to make it happen. The past few months, I’ve done a good job of not getting on my phone for the first hour of the morning (I try to just not even look at it except to turn off my alarm and that is it).
Instead, I go on a walk and watch the sun rise, I read my Bible and a few pages from a devotional and some inspiring books, and I get myself and the kids ready for the day. I try to not look at my phone until all of this is done. It has made such a world of difference in my days when I start my mornings like this!
But I’m still struggling with my evenings. And I know it’s because of being online. I get sucked into “doing just one more thing” for work or “just a few more minutes of scrolling”… and we all know how that usually goes. Which means that I’m not winding down well in the evenings and have been struggling with going to bed early.
So the challenge with choosing this word will mean that I need to be more disciplined and proactive in developing good habits and setting good boundaries for my phone and computer in the evenings.
I talked with my business coach, Alli Worthington, last week about how conflicted I was feeling about my evenings and how I’m struggling to shut things down and go to bed earlier. She gently pushed me to consider if I really needed to be online in the evenings at all.
My Plan For Being Unplugged in the Evenings
After some resistance, I finally realized she was right. So I’m putting this out here publicly that my Word of the Year is Unplugged and that this is how I want to live this out because my hope is that it will motivate me to actually follow through with my goal to be unplugged at least two hours before bed.
My plan is to have a strict policy to not turn my phone or computer on after 8 p.m. I will shut them down and have them in the other room. Then, instead of scrolling or finishing work in the evenings, I’ll spend time with Jesse and/or the older kids and take a bath and read and get into bed by 9:45 p.m. to 10 p.m.
I know that this will make a big positive difference for my days and my life — but it will be a big challenge to follow through with this. So that’s why this word scares me and that’s why I’m putting this out here publicly. Because I need all the accountability I can get!
Do you have a Word of the Year for 2025? If so, let us know what it is in the comments!
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