Digital detox has become a growing practice among smartphone users these days. With more dominance of electronic devices, the desire to get away from them has also taken prominence. In this regard, here, we explore digital detox, its benefits, and how you can start it.
Table of contents
What is digital detox?
Digital Detox refers to a period during which a person forsakes electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops/computers, tablets, etc. It also means staying away from social media. In essence, it’s a time when one takes a break from electronic devices and online platforms.
You may have heard of the term digital nomad. It’s a person who travels around places but remains connected to the internet and uses electronic gadgets. Digital Detox is the complete opposite scenario.
Why people do it?
People prefer to do a digital detox to avoid online engagements. Smartphones feed us constant notifications. The phone keeps buzzing with sounds to notify us of new updates. Social media, above all, has us in a forever activism. We are also in the perpetual need to like someone’s photo, wish them on their birthday, post status, stories, etc. Things might get tedious at times. People take a break to have peace from over over-dominant digital landscape.
What are the benefits of digital detox?
Fair question, here are the major benefits of digital detox:
- Reduced stress: Shunning smartphones and computers leads to a reduction in stress and anxiety. The urge to engage on social platforms or the web suddenly vanishes, and the body and mind feel relaxed.
- Gives time for creativity: Churning time away from digital space opens creativity for other activities. One may get time in drawing, reading, writing stories, content-making, etc.
- Better sleep quality: Not being on screen also helps for a sound sleep. This is especially true for the time just before bed, when, if you aren’t watching your phone or computer, you may get a deep sleep.
- Reduced headache, eye strain: Screens fix our eyes to it, which strains them if exposed to long hours. Constant reading, browsing, tapping, and clicking also cause fatigue and headaches. A detox period avoids all these scenarios and gives us calm and good health.
- Better social life: Virtual life is individualistic, and users keep to themselves most of the time on their smartphones, tablets, and computers. It reduces their social and interactive skills. A screen time break restores all these social dimensions. It forces human interaction and stirs users into the real physical world for good. It also helps foster a better bond among family and friends.
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Methods for digital detox?
You can simply avoid using smartphones and computers to do a digital detox. It’s the primary way of it. But if you simply want to avoid getting notifications and calls, you can also put your phone on flight/airplane mode. A half-baked method would also be to deactivate your social media account.
Many use dumb phones/burner phones these days as an anti-smartphone statement, too. That’s also effective as you get basic communications and avoid every other noise a smartphone brings.
Staying completely away from digital tools for long may not be tenable for all. So, a digital detox could offer a solid peace of mind with a screen break.
