Simple Digital Detox Tips to Practice in Daily Life
As you know, technology plays a very important role in our daily lives. It provides us with convenience. From food ordering, to online shopping, to ride-hailing, to video calling, to networking or video streaming. We can do anything we want. It makes our lives so much easier. Right? It’s so amazing that everything we need or want is now within our reach through our phones. So much so that we can lose the sense of reality and use it excessively. That’s where the digital detox comes in.
Nothing wrong with using your phone. But remember: like with everything, it’s all about moderation. The excess of everything is not recommended. The reality is, we all get overwhelmed to some extent. And the excessive use of technology doesn’t help. That’s why it is very important to take a step back from screens as part of your self-care routine for your mental health and well-being. Yes. I’m talking about a digital detox. You read right 🙂
According to this study, digital detox is an excellent strategy to reduce unnecessary screen time; it can help reduce stress, strengthen real-life connections, and improve focus. By taking small and healthy steps, we can control our tech habits again.
In this post, we are going to discuss 5 digital detox tips we can practice daily. They are simple and easy to include in your routine.
- Turn Off Your Notifications
- Spend Some Time Offline
- Open One Screen At A Time
- Delete Unwanted or Low-Productivity Apps
- Stay Away from Screens Before Sleeping or After Waking Up
Turn Off Your Notifications
Continuous notifications from emails, WhatsApp, Instagram, and other social media applications keep us in touch with these devices.
Let’s face it: all these notifications can cause stress and anxiety. I’ve been there too.
To avoid this frustration in your life, why not change the settings and disable these notifications. Specifically, change the one that are not very important. By doing so, you can reduce your stress and keep your minds healthy, and happy.
Spend Some Time Offline
According to this study published in the American College of Cardiology, students who used their phones for 5 hours or more daily had a BMI greater than 35 (obese).
So, choose a specific time of the day that should be screen-free. Whether you decide to do so during meals or before bedtime will help you create healthier habits and more meaningful connections.
Instead, during this time, you can read a book, exercise, spending some time in nature or focus on another hobby (activities you can actually enjoy alone). A daily digital detox can help your mind recharge and allow you to do all the things with more energy and power.
Whatever you decide to do, focusing on other aspects of your life will bring positive changes.
Open One Screen at a Time
One of the key points of digital detox tips is to avoid doing too many things at the same time. This can be overwhelming. It can reduce effectiveness in your work and increase mental stress.
Therefore, to avoid this, let’s use only one app at a time.
For example, if you are watching a movie on a streaming app, close all the other apps and focus only on one thing at a time. In this case, the movie.
This way, you can develop your focus and improve our mental health. The idea here is to live in the moment and reduce the chances of getting lost.
Delete Unwanted or Low-Productivity Apps
There are so many applications on our mobile phones that only waste our time and increase our stress.
To improve your well-being, audit your phones and analyse which apps are not suitable for your mental health. As yourself this: which app do i need?
I mean, there are so many apps that are unnecessary that we don’t use for months or years. We download them for the sake of it.
When you have’t used an app for 3 months, I think it’s worth reminding you that you don’t need. Am I right? So, go ahead and delete those apps that are not productive and only cause you anxiety.
The idea is to promote a healthy use of technology.
Stay Away from Screens Before Sleeping or After Waking Up
According to this poll by the National Sleep Foundation of America, adults who took their phones to their beds had low-quality sleep.
This means that the use of technology around bed time play a key factor on our quality of sleep and wellbeing. Therefore, for a successful digital detox, you need to avoid using your phone for at least 40 minutes before sleeping and 30 minutes after waking up.
Blue light from mobile screens disrupts melatonin production, which can affect your sleep badly. This change can be crucial, among other digital detox tips, to improve your sleep so you can wake up fresh and energetic.
Bottom Line
A digital detox sounds intimidating. But remember, it only requires baby steps to make your lifestyle healthy and mindful; you don’t have to make very big changes in your life.
It is a strategy for using technology mindfully. Intentionally. As you know, consistent small changes always end up becoming big successes.
To make your lifestyle healthy and productive, start with these steps. You will notice a positive change over time. So, start small and make your way up. One digital detox tip at a time. Most importantly, be consistent. Over time, these changes can lead to building a healthy relationship with technology, and improved well-being.
I hope these tips will help you live a healthier and happier life. What digital detox tip will you start with? Share with us in the comments below 🙂
