Dreaming of a Digital Detox?

A digital detox is, quite simply, consciously taking a break from screens and devices to help to reduce reliance on them and to help you find more balance in life. There are several ways to introduce a digital detox into your life, from a couple of screen-free hours every day to a much longer digital sabbatical. Here are our favourite five ways to digitally detox:

A completely screen-free day once a week

Designate one day a week where screens do not feature at all in your plans. If you are worried about family members being able to reach you, let them know that your phone will be turned off for this day, and see if you can provide an alternative way for them to contact you if necessary. Without the distraction of your device, spend the day doing something soul-nourishing like hiking outdoors, pursue a mindful hobby or spend quality, non-interrupted time with loved ones.

Schedule screen-free hours each day

If a whole day without screens seems a bit of a challenge right now, schedule some screen-free time each day to give yourself a break from your device. A good time to do this might be at the end of the day; switching off before dinner and having an entirely screen-free meal time and evening.

Instead of mindlessly scrolling socials or watching TV, it will free your evening for reading, learning something new, engaging in meaningful conversations and spending quality time with friends and family. In addition, reducing your exposure to blue light in the evening can improve the quality of your sleep.

Designate phone-free zones at home

Another way to introduce the concept of a digital detox at home is to dedicate screen-free zones at home. Some common screen-free zones include the dinner table, bedrooms and living areas. The portability of mobile phones means that they are with us constantly … sometimes even in the bathroom! Reducing the areas in which we use our phones at home will gradually reduce our reliance on them.

In this form of digital detox, meal times will be completely mobile phone-free to allow for free-flowing conversation and an enjoyment of food. Bedrooms would be a sanctuary of quiet rest and relaxation, not of constant notification and communication, and the living room, when the family are together will be a place of togetherness, connection and bonding, not everyone ignoring each other and looking down at their phones.

Set screen-time limits on your device

Most of us have fallen into the addictive trap of ‘quickly’ checking a message only to look up from our screen 45 minutes later and realise we have been mindlessly scrolling a social media app without even remembering clicking on it in the first place.

Social media apps are deliberately designed to be addictive and to keep us scrolling as long as possible. After all, the longer we scroll, the more money the app makes from advertisers. To help manage the amount of time we ‘lose’ on such apps, you can make some simple settings changes within the app itself to set a daily screen time limit. You can also set an overall screen time limit on your device to ensure you don’t lose precious minutes and hours staring at your screen.

An extended digital detox retreat

This hard-core version of a digital detox will likely require some planning, but if you feel as if your screen usage has gotten out of hand and a hard reset is what you need, then this might be the option for you.

A quick google search for ‘digital detox retreats’ delivers a host of options in the UK and overseas for organised, curated retreats designed to wean users off their over-reliance on technology and replace screen-time with other pursuits. The sheer number of options available indicates how in demand this kind of digital detox is.   

Being aware of our reliance on technology and the role it plays in our life is the first step in taking back some power over device use. Whichever way we choose to introduce a digital detox, the benefits of doing so can not be overstated. Deep down, most of us know – or feel – that the positives we experience when glued to our screens are, by far, outweighed by the negatives and the other opportunities we miss out on due to our screen dependency.

What are some benefits of a digital detox?

Reduced Stress and Anxiety

Reduced stress and anxiety are often listed as the top reasons to reduce reliance on technology. The overwhelming – and often negative - amount of information that is thrown at us via the online 24 news cycle, social media apps, work emails, notifications and messages is linked to higher levels of stress and anxiety. The media we consume is increasingly polarising and inflammatory, often leading to despair and anguish as we ‘doomscroll’. Mental health professionals are seeing an emerging pattern of increased stress and anxiety as a result of the media we consume via our devices (i)

Being more conscious about what we choose to engage with and setting some strict limits around the amount of time we spend on our devices may be the key to regaining some balance and improved mental well-being.

Aside from what we are looking at on our phones, studies (ii) have also shown that the chronic sensory stimulation we experience via excessive exposure to looking at the screen itself has been found to adversely affect ‘cognitive, behavioural, and emotional disorders in adolescents and young adults that also has the potential to increase the risk of early onset dementia in late adulthood’.

Better Sleep

Something we talk a lot about here at Grounded Wellness is the effect that over-exposure to blue light from screens can have on our sleep health. Artificial blue light emitted from all screens mimics daylight from the sun and tricks the receptors in our eyes into thinking that it is still daytime, thus suppressing the release of the sleep hormone melatonin. When we are on our devices in the lead up to bed time, this lack of melatonin production makes it harder for us to fall asleep and stay asleep. As sleep is such a key pillar to our overall health and well-being, it is something we ought to be protecting.

Increased Focus, Productivity and Creativity

While much of our work or study will happen on a screen, we are often distracted by notifications, pop ups or temptations to check social media on our device. By removing devices from our work space during a digital detox, we will have fewer distractions, allowing us to think more clearly. Furthermore, it will allow us to be more productive. When we are distracted from our task by notifications or if we switch to looking at social media instead, we lose time in what is known as the ‘switch cost.’

A 2011 study by Gloria Mark et al. (iii) found that when individuals switch tasks, they experience an average delay of about 25 minutes before they are fully back to their original level of productivity. Multiply 25 minutes by the number of times you are distracted from your core task by an email, phone notification or something on your social feed and you can calculate how much productivity and focus time might be lost in a typical day.

Similarly, creativity improves in moments of silence, space and even boredom. When we are on our devices, we usually find ourselves passively consuming content rather than actively creating anything. Phones and social media have stolen our ability to be bored and have filled our brain with an unending source of distraction and mental clutter.

A digital detox gives us the opportunity to free our minds of such mental clutter and gives us space to look at the world from a new perspective, allowing for new ideas and creative thought. Research into the effects of screen use and social media distraction on our creativity are ongoing.

Improved Personal Relationships

Devices have become such a pervasive part of our daily lives and may be affecting our face-to-face contact with our family, friends and others. While video communication tools have made it much easier to keep in closer contact with friends and family who live far away, our phones might be having a negative impact on relationships closer to home.

Distractions from our phones, whether an SMS, a notification or an alert on social media can lead to us being less present in conversations with our loved ones. Favouring looking at our phones over having a face-to-face chat with our partner or children at the end of the day can damage connection with one another. (iv)

By implementing some of the digital detox ideas listed above and consciously being present for our loved ones without a phone close by can help to foster closer relationships and bring more meaning into our lives.

Is Today the Day for a Digital Detox?