In this digital era, millennials and generation z are believed to be born with a smartphone at hand. It can’t be denied that mobile phones and electronic devices have become a vital part of our everyday lives. Who hasn’t had that mini panic attack when they can’t find their mobile in their pockets or when your laptop frozens out of nowhere while redacting a document? We feel insecure when our mobiles are not at hand and dread missing out. Although is extremely hard to live without technology in the 21st century, learning to balance our digital habits should be something to engage in. A Digital Detox, unplugging from our devices can be great to take a deep breath, explore other aspects of our lives and take a better care of our mental health. If you are struggling to start your digital detox, check out these 12 steps you need to take.
A digital detox is a hard, but ultimately rewarding process. If you’re struggling, think about the benefits this can bring to your life.
You need to take a look at yourself and establish a realistic goal. Sometimes our careers, studies or even our relationships demand us to stay plugged in. The best thing to do is decide how do you want to carry out your digital detox and for how long. Maybe you want to stay a full week offline, or maybe, you just need several hours per day.
Use a calendar or a bucket list in your diary. Outline all the details of your digital detox dates and time. This will establish some seriousness and give you some discipline. If you start doing it on a piece of paper, it also sets the mode for what is about to follow.
This is when you ask yourself how much are you dependent on technology. Perhaps you are more depended on your smartphone than you think. Ask yourself how are you going to wake up every morning, how will you find a new address or in which ways can you entertain yourself. Also, find out how do you normally communicate with your loved ones and people from work. This will inevitably shape your detox process.
Familiarising yourself with the airplane mode can be a good idea as well as to start deleting apps you rarely use or turn off your app notifications. You can also block those websites that take hours of your time.
Perhaps you have an email calendar or you check next week’s rota online. You need to make sure all vital information is accessible for when you’re unplugged. Have the most vital stuff printed or write it down in a journal.
Get yourself some of those old-fashioned, annoying clocks or a digital watch, whatever serves to wake you up or to be on time for that appointment.
You don’t want your friends and relatives thinking something has happened to you. Get them involved and find out an alternative method for them to get in touch with you, a landline would work best.
Plan meetings with your loved ones or plan exciting activities you’ve never done before. Try out dancing lessons, painting, karaoke or anything you’d never do in your usual routine. This will keep things interesting and will distract you from any temptation!
The moment we were waiting for. It sounds easier in theory than in practice, but, when in doubt, think about all the steps you’ve already taken to reach this point. And, forget about the fear of missing out. You can always rejoin the digital community after your digital detox period finishes after all.
Remember that it is not a punishment. You digital detox opens the doors to new experiences. Enjoy every moment of your unplugged life and every aspect of the present.
Take a look back and identify the positive parts of your digital detox experience. Congratulate yourself for the effort and think about how you can use what you just lived in the future.
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