How to have a successful digital detox
It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed by the digital world we now live in. As such, we recommend a digital detox from time to time to refresh, unwind, ground ourselves and increase productivity. This involves the limited use of anything digital, including laptops and phones for a period. In this blog we’ll share some tips on how to have a successful digital detox. It's all about the baby steps.
1. INFORM PEOPLE
- Let the people close to you know that you're having a digital detox, so that if they're unable to reach you, they'll understand why.
- Set yourself a realistic period you want to do the detox for. Whether it's for a few hours, a specific part of the day, the entire day or even more.
- Yep... that includes Instagram. As tempting as it is, apps like Instagram take up so much of our days without us really realising. The global average amount of time people spend on social media each day is 2.5 hours (Hootsuite Digital Trends Report 2022). Signing out of your apps will encourage you to resist any digital scrolls and give you more time to do something else!
- Constant updates can often be very distracting and once you open one message, you're likely to open the next and a few more following that one.
- Sometimes you can't help but to take out your phone on the simplest occasions like when you are eating..it's tempting I know! But refraining from using your phone during these times allows you to live in the moment and take in the real life that is present around you, rather than being cooped up in the digital space.
- Something a lot easier said than done. Thankfully productivity apps like Forest (available on iOS and Google store) can help! If you do have to use your phone for necessary calls or navigation, try to keep it short and sweet.
By using these tips mentioned in your digital detox, you’re likely to find the experience more easier to manage. Try it out this weekend or perhaps even for a few hours during a working day and let us know how you find it. Good luck!
Written by Shania Foster