We live in a world where smartphones have turned from an unusual gadget into a vital necessity. And despite all the amenities attached to modern technologies, sometimes they require rest. Here’s where digital detox comes on stage. We tell you what it is and how to competently take a break in your online life.
What is digital detox?
Perhaps everyone has already heard about the usual detox in 2024 – it is cleansing the body of the harmful substances accumulated in it (it is still fashionable to call them toxins and toxins). And digital detox is the cleansing of the body of the harm accumulated in connection with the use of modern technologies. Social networks, endless news, numerous notifications – our psyche is not focused on such a massive attack and after a while begins to experience stress from the banal vibration of the smartphone. And even if you think that you have merged into symbiosis with your smartphone, it does not mean that you do not need a digital detox.
How do you know what is worth having a digital detox?
Of course, the criteria are different for each individual. But if you:
- grab your smartphone right after waking up,
- always carry it with you, even to the kitchen or toilet,
- you feel the twitching of your eye when you hear the sound of a notification,
- tired of social networks,
- endlessly scroll through the news feeds,
- you are regularly distracted by your smartphone while working,
a short pause definitely won’t hurt.
What are the practices of digital detox?
Depending on the requests and capabilities, detox can be different – from a banal silent mode to a retreat, when people in the company of like-minded people go to nature without gadgets and meditate for two to three weeks. And yet, here are some useful tips for those who want to take a break from the digital world.
Clean up notifications
Notifications are one of the most annoying things in a smartphone. They fall out all the time, and the vast majority does not make any sense. Who is interested to know that the blogger, to whom he once accidentally subscribed, started a live broadcast or another sale has started in another online store. In 1% of cases, this information is useful, but in the remaining 99% it is of no use. So it’s worth looking in the phone settings which applications can send notifications and disable them if they are not needed. The same can be done in social networks and messengers: some accounts can be put on silent, for some to allow only certain notifications.
Carry out desktop hygiene
At the same time, the precious memory of the device will be freed. Surely a huge number of applications on the smartphone were installed under unknown circumstances a hundred years ago, and they were opened literally a couple of times. Feel free to add to the basket. It is also worth changing the desktop logic: one for the main applications (settings, camera, phone, …), one for work, one for messengers, one for entertainment. This helps to structure your interaction with the gadget and less often to scroll your favorite social network while working.
Take up time management
Let’s move on to slightly more radical steps. There are two options for how you can limit the time of use of certain applications. The first is just to give them separate intervals in a day. For example, every hour allow yourself to go to social networks for 10 minutes to check notifications, read new messages and like your friends. The second is to set limits on the use of specific applications in the smartphone settings. Then you can use them anytime, but with the idea that you can’t scroll endlessly.
Take breaks
It’s not about breaks for 15 minutes. The smartphone can be completely turned off for the weekend – at the same time it will help to further divide work and personal time, as well as spend more time with friends and family or do a hobby. In a couple of days, you can calmly put your mental state in order, take a break from the endless flow of information and enjoy the tranquility so that you feel energetic at the beginning of the new week. And yet it is too inconvenient to remain completely unconnected in the modern world. Then you can buy yourself an ordinary button phone – for example, Philips Xenium E2301 with a capacious battery, which in this use case can not be charged for months.
Introduce restrictions on the use of the gadget in certain places
You need to sleep in bed, not sit in your favorite application – and this is not just a moral teaching. It is important for our brain to perceive the bed as a place to sleep, not as a multifunctional space. Otherwise, the risk of insomnia increases. The same rules apply to the place where you eat: while eating, the brain should be busy eating, not watching the next series of the movie, no matter how sad it may sound.
