A digital detox is a great strategy to recharge and refresh your default setting.
Digital detox is about stepping away from your phone, console or device and reconnecting with the real world. It’s a chance to reduce your stress levels and focus more on your surroundings.
It’s hard to imagine life without our digital devices – they connect us, keep us up-to-date, and are part of life. But sometimes we lose track of time and forget about our relationships in the real world.
Being disconnected from the here and now, all the time, is not good for our wellbeing.
Disconnecting doesn’t mean you’ll fall off the face of the earth and become unreachable. It just means that you make the decision to take more control of your time and self-care.
10 tips on how to unplug
1. Tech-free time each day
Pick a time during the day that will be tech-free for you. Let people know that you’ll be offline during that time every day. Monitor how you go and take notice of all the other things you have time for now.
2. Ease yourself into it
Start with breaks from devices for just 30 minutes on the first day, an hour on the second day, 2 hours on the second day, and so on. This makes goals more achievable.
3. Take micro breaks
Rather than nodding as someone speaks to you while you’re on your device, put the device down and give them your 100% attention. These micro-breaks all add up to more time off devices. You’re also show people that they are important to you, and they will feel respected.
4. Go greyscale
Making your screen black and white means it’s not so vibrant and you may even get less interested in looking at it. For some people this simple strategy works really well.
5. Turn off alerts
It’s hard to resist alerts and push notifications that pop up to grab your attention – so let’s just turn them off. You’ll be surprised at how calm life is without these interruptions. It also makes you feel like you are in the driver’s seat now. If people really need you, they will call.
6. Tech-slider for dinner?
Try going without phones at the dinner table. At the start of dinner ask everyone to slide their phone into the middle of table so that no-one is tempted to use it during dinner. Make it fun and have a competition – the first to reach for their phone is on dishes!
7. Make your bedroom a tech-free zone
Recharging your device next to your bed is like having lollipops next to a toddler’s cot. Move your recharger to another room and make your bedroom tech-free. Buy an alarm clock to replace the device alarm you use, or ask someone in the house to wake you up.
8. List alternatives
Make a list of things you’ve wanted to do lately but haven’t had a chance to. Things like meeting up with a mate, jobs around the house, shooting hoops, reading a great book, playing a musical instrument, painting, or picking up a new sport or hobby. When you feel the urge to pick up your device (when you don’t need to), try something on your list instead.
9. Try a tech-free get-away
Try a real getaway and go 100% techfree for a weekend – this can work wonders for your state of mind, just let people know you’re going off the grid.
10. Recruit others to detox with you!
Share with others that you are doing a digital detox – yes, even share online. You could rally support from friends and family, and you may even recruit them to do it with you!
