A friend recently asked me, “What’s your best advice to avoid online shopping?”
My answer, probably more blunt than I expected, was simply “Shut down your computer and go away.”
And that is the truth. If you shut down your computer and walk away or put down your phone, you will not have the option to buy online.
Of course, this step is simpler said than done.
This week and throughout the approaching month, we will likely be bombarded with countless online messages to purchase things we do not need. They will all be strategically placed, crowd-tested, made by professionals, and designed to share the cash with you.
But this 12 months, perhaps greater than ever, we must take a step to withstand their appeal.
Online shopping is exclusive. And the temptation to purchase can often be more tempting than shopping in person in stores.
Consider this: online stores are all the time open, it is simpler to search out individual items, the transaction will be finalized in a couple of seconds, often we don’t even need to pull out the payment card, because our computer already has the data saved.
What’s worse, we frequently shop on the weakest moments. For example, after we are drained, stressed, bored, rushed and even tipsy. The considered something that we would really like to own appears in our mind, and 30 seconds later it might probably be purchased and delivered.
76% of us shop online. And with temptation available 24/7, finding the strength to shut down your computer, put down your phone, and walk away isn’t any easy task.
For this reason, it might probably be helpful not only to place your phone away, but to achieve this on purpose. Choosing an activity apart from watching a retail store through a screen helps us to place space, time and energy between the temptation to purchase and the actual purchase.
This week, while you feel like buying something online, shut down your computer and select one activity from this list as an alternative.
Ten things we could do as an alternative of shopping online:
1. Go for a walk. (Except you, Buffalo.)
2. Read a book chapter.
3. Bake cupcakes.
4. Take a shower.
5. Play a board game along with your children.
6. Clean up the kitchen.
7. Cross off the item out of your to-do list.
8. Call a member of the family or friend.
9. Sit back with a cup of coffee.
10. Go to bed.
You may find it most helpful to return to the identical exercise over and once more this week and month. Perhaps it is going to help to slowly develop each idea separately over the approaching month.
And perhaps, more than likely, this list will spark latest ideas for your personal life and activities this holiday season, more value your time and energy than buying physical things.
