As I have been writing some blog articles about digital detox, I would like to focus on the advantages and disadvantages of digital detox in this article.
Almost 2 weeks ago, I have accidentally broken my smartphone during my family trip.
Life Without Phone is the article tag that I have been posting to share with you what I feel from my experience of giving up a smartphone, so if you are interested in what happened to me, please read those articles.
Advantages of digital detox
The beautiful forest in Umeå, Sweden
Life without my phone has told me three benefits of it and those are...
- You will find many fun activities in the real world
- You will have less burden for your eyes
- You will be able to enjoy chatting with friends in the real world
- You can decrease decision fatigue as well
You will find many fun activities in the real world
This was actually the first time I realized how much time I have spent on the screen even though I thought I wasn't doing so.
Without any electronic devices, you can see the world from a whole different angle.
As written in the article Digital detox method "going to the park with no device" is so easy to do, going to the park is becoming one of my favourite routines these days to continue digital detox.
Haven't tried yet?
It's worth trying.
You will have less burden for your eyes
Digital devices can be the biggest reason for eyestrain.
I think most of you have already realized that your eyes are tired; then let's do a digital detox.
According to The vision council's survey, 59% of American adults reported experiencing symptoms of digital eye strain.
A digital detox is so effective for people who want to leave social media; "How to quit social media for one month with 4 easy steps" will be something worth reading.
You will be able to enjoy chatting with friends in the real world
If you feel like you haven't talked to a person close to you face-to-face, then it's time to leave your phone and go see them.
Meeting your friends is one of the best and easiest ways of digital detox.
The article Digital detox activities: 5 examples and how to start them will be useful for you to know more about the concrete steps of digital detox.
I invited some of my friends a few days ago and we cooked together.
That was so much fun and while they were here, I did not check any of the digital devices at all.
You can decrease decision fatigue as well
The 4th benefit of digital detox is that digital detox can also help you to decrease the stress caused by decision fatigue.
Click here to read more about the relationship between digital detox and decision fatigue.
If you do not know what decision fatigue is, please read How can I avoid decision fatigue? Extreme minimalist blogger teaches you the ultimate method.
Disadvantages of digital detox
When you try something new and find positive aspects, you also want to take a look at the other side of the coin.
The disadvantages of not having a smartphone or doing digital detox are...
- You will not enjoy it for the first couple of times
- You will need to figure out what to do without digital devices
- You will not have emergency calls without digital devices
You will not enjoy it for the first couple of times
In this century, since the first iPhone 4 was released in 2007, people are so used to spending life with a smartphone.
So if you are trying to do a digital detox challenge, some of you may not enjoy digital detox for the first couple of times.
Why?
Because most things are done with one single smartphone, you may wonder what to do without having your smartphone in your hand.
However getting used to this detox habit, you'll be able to realize there are so many things to do out there without a smartphone
You will need to figure out what to do without digital devices
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, it may be difficult to figure out what to do without diesel devices on the first day of your digital detox.
Here are some examples of what to do without any electronic devices, so if you want to do it, please try out some of the examples.
- Taking a nice walk in the park
- Playing chess in the park with a real board
- Going to a coffee shop with your family or with your friends
- Join any digital detox program
- DO NOTHING (this is the best actually)
etc...
You will not have emergency calls without digital devices
These days, many authentication processes are done by the smartphone short message app.
After losing access to my phone, I realized how inconvenient it is not to have a smartphone; I could not even transfer some money to someone because I was without a bank app...
In addition to this, if something unfortunate happened to your family or close friend, you will not be able to receive emergency calls immediately.
The worst part of doing digital is this type of thing, so if you want to be able to catch important calls at any time, you'll need to think about how to do a digital detox.
Start from the short-period digital detox
Here are some articles you can read to know more about the concrete steps of digital detox;
Digital detox activities: 5 examples and how to start them
How to start digital detox with 5 steps: read this if you are a digital nomad
Digital detox is not that easy but when you get used to it, you will be able to enjoy it so much.
I hope this article helps you in the way that you want.