Do you ever feel like a slave to your smartphone? If you’re like the average person, you check it 200 times each day. Chances are you’re in need of a digital detox

With the holidays slowly creeping up, it's hard to take the time for yourself, be still and tune into the moment before braving maddening airport crowds, eschewing questions at family gatherings and looming end-of-year work deadlines. It may be the merriest of seasons, but it can send your stress level into overdrive. Want to feel more present in the moment? Looking to truly reconnect with friends and family? Hoping to recharge a bit and to boost your creativity? We give you 6 ways to help you reconnect with real life. 

The Science Behind a Digital Detox

The benefits of switching off – literally and figuratively – are backed by science. Exposure to blue light during daytime hours helps us maintain healthy circadian rhythms — this is our body’s natural wake and sleep cycle. But too much blue light from our devices interferes with our melatonin levels, disrupting our quality of sleep, causing wakeful nights and daytime fatigue. Though technology has definitely made life easier on the whole, surveys indicate it’s also a major source of stress – particularly the smartphone technology that enables us to be ‘on’ 24 hours, checking emails, social media apps and texts. This notion that we have to be available at all times jeopardises our work-life balance, which in turn will impact your overall job satisfaction and happiness.  

It’s not just our brains that are overloaded; our bodies, too, are suffering. Have you ever felt neck pain from staring at your screen? Eye strain? Hearing loss? That’s your body calling out for a tech break. There’s no better time than right now to practice some self-care and self-kindness. 

The Benefits of a Digital Detox

Spending too much time on social media, you’d be forgiven for thinking everyone out there’s living a better life than you. Lowering your exposure to other peoples’ “happy lives” on social media makes it easier to maintain a more positive outlook on life, reduces FOMO and minimises the desire to continuously check your phone for the latest updates. And, being present and focusing on the real world around you, and your family and friends, will significantly improve your quality of life. 

1. Set realistic goals

Just like any major lifestyle change, long-term success is best achieved in small steps. Think of your iPad as a cupcake. If you deprive yourself entirely, you’re setting yourself up for a major binge. Try allowing yourself a certain amount of time online per day, not counting your work hours, and try decreasing that amount over weeks and months.

2. Have an experience, don’t post about it

Before social media, we enjoyed things without worrying that all of our friends and family needed to know about them. Think about it: does the online community have a burning desire to see the avocado toast you’re about to eat? Put down your smartphone at brunch and just savour the flavour, or head off into nature and explore.

3. Turn off notifications

Who ever said you had to be on call 24/7? Is it in your job description, are you a doctor? Unless you’re saving the world or saving lives, keep reminding yourself that people don’t require a response from you within 5 seconds. They can afford to wait a little. If it’s urgent, there’s always the option to call you. So, turn off notifications completely and plan 3-4 moments during your day to check your email/Slack/Microsoft Teams and social media apps. No more! Or, if this feels like it’d be too much for you, or your work would really suffer, just turn off push notifications. This way you’ll still get to see the red numbers on an app, but you won’t receive a notification, and you can decide for yourself if it requires immediate reaction.

4. Go retro in the bedroom

According to Harvard Medical School’s online publication, the light emitted from screens before bedtime disrupts our circadian rhythm and melatonin production, resulting in poorer sleep. Instead of using your smartphone as your alarm, leave it in another room. After all, you can’t check Instagram on an old-fashioned alarm clock.

5. Make it a family affair

It’s easier to form good habits when the people around you do it as well. Next time you sit down to dinner, collect all the phones and set them in the middle of the table. The first person who reaches for theirs before the meal is over is responsible for doing the dishes.

6. Give a real-life compliment

Speaking of Facebook, remember when you actually had to speak to a person to congratulate them rather than just clicking on an icon of a thumb? Rather than clicking “like,” why not plan a date to go for a walk with a loved one or close friend? Take this moment to talk to them properly and show them how much they mean to you. The personal interaction will do you both a world of good.

Making the decision to be practice kindness in your life by engaging in self-care and treating yourself with the compassion you would a friend or family member can be incredibly powerful. Nobody is telling you to give up technology cold turkey, but limiting your online life will benefit not just you and your happiness, but those around you as well. Next time you’re out with friends, try talking to them instead of your Instagram followers—posting all the juicy gossip can wait until you get home.