In this article, I would like to write about digital detox.
Most people in this century have wonderful and useful digital devices such as computers, smartphones, and smartwatches.
According to the data from the National Library of Medicine "National Centre for biotechnology information", there is an association between mental health and the use of digital devices.
Let's take a look at the importance of digital detox based on my story that I could recover from the overuse of digital devices.
The guide to begin a digital detox
I had been suffering from overuse of digital devices for a long time until I noticed the importance of constant digital detox.
Nowadays, I can manage the time I use digital devices and how I use them.
This article aims to introduce you to how to start a digital detox without any stress and why you should do a digital detox.
First of all the reasons why you should do a digital detox are...
- It's fun to enjoy "nothing"
- It's fun to enjoy conversation with other people
- It's fun to enjoy the delicious food
It's really simple to achieve these points, but living in a century with many distractions and notifications makes it difficult to do this.
1. It's fun to enjoy "nothing"
This is the most important reason why I recommend digital detox because if you are completely without digital devices, you may not know what to do.
When was the last time you did nothing and enjoy the vacant time???
Life in the 21st century is so busy that everybody is occupied by many things to do.
What I found through the experience of doing the constant digital detox for many years is that sometimes it's important to make the schedule vacant.
If you keep sending the busy days like now, it's almost impossible to make the schedule vacant unless otherwise you consciously try to do so.
My suggestion is, how about enjoying the time of "nothing", especially without a digital device?
2. It's fun to enjoy conversation with other people
These days, it's so easy to text someone that if you're too busy to meet that person, you may choose texting, rather than taking some time to meet that person.
Personally, I'm not a good texter, so I don't text my friends much, but I prefer to meet my friend in person or prefer to do a video call if my friend lives in a foreign country.
Leaving your phone away and taking a train or car to go and meet your friends or family is so important.
My small advice on making the constant digital detox, coffee is a very useful tool for the digital detox.
Please refer to the article "Minimalist lifestyle tips: Coffee for your morning routine makes you amazingly comfortable" for detail.
3. It's fun to enjoy the delicious food
If you think you are too busy to have lunch or dinner in a relaxed mode, the overuse of digital devices may be one of the reasons.
In the past, I had this bad habit of using my smartphone while eating lunch or dinner, and not able to even realize how many times I didn't focus to enjoy.
If you think the smartphone is so important to you, you may also want to consider the fact that the first iPhone was released only in 2007.
Now, it's 2022 so in the history of human beings, human beings have been spending only 15 years with a smartphone; meaning that human things have cherished more than thousands of years without smartphones or even computers.
Why is it so important to you then??
Two patterns of digital detox
Now it's time to talk about two patterns of digital detox that I called "intense mode" and "chill mode".
The intense mode
The intense mode of digital detox requires you to leave your smartphone and any digital devices for at least a whole day.
If you do not have any special event next Saturday or Sunday, it will be valuable to try this method.
The method is very simple.
If you're going to do the intense mode on Saturday, all the digital devices should be turned off on Friday night, and hopefully put on a shelf or suitcase, that you don't use quite often.
The next time you can touch or check your digital device is Sunday morning when you wake up.
I have tried this method couple of times, and what I felt was when Sunday morning came, I didn't feel to look for a smartphone or laptop.
The Chill Mode
The second method is the chill mode which I do every single day.
How you do the chill mode is you can simply set the start time and the end time.
In my case, I usually wake up around 9 o'clock and spend an hour or sometimes 2 to enjoy coffee and reading, so 10 or 11 is the start time depending on my feeling.
My end time is 22 o'clock but sometimes I make it earlier if I don't have any meetings or other jobs to do.
This sounds very simple, and yes it is very simple, but without having a rule, it is so easy to keep using a digital device.
If you work fully remotely like me, this method will work, because sometimes it's difficult to leave the digital device for a whole day due to the work schedule.
I hope this article is valuable to you if you're trying to start the wonderful habit of digital detox.