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A simple digital detox method: 13 hours rule

　

 


I think you have reached this article because you are looking for a method for a digital detox.


I think I can help you so much because I am the one who does the digital detox called "The 13 hours rule" every day.


I started this habit thanks to the accident in that I completely broke my phone.


　

Do you know how many hours you spend your time on your phone?



I want you to try one thing; let's use the stopwatch to measure the time how much you spend time on your smartphone.

This is pretty easy.

When you use a smartphone next time, what you have to do is just measure the time.

If this is the first time for you, I think most of you will get surprised at how long it is that you spend, or waste I should say, time on your phone.


As shared my own experience in the article Life without a smartphone: day1-day4, I have never thought about how many hours I spend my time on my phone.

Thanks to the accident in that I broke my phone and switched it to the big iPad, my total screen time has drastically decreased.

To master your style of digital detox, knowing how many hours you spend time on your digital devices is the first step.


The famous "Art of War" written by Sun Tzu, the ancient Chinese war strategist, can be applied to the path of a digital detox as well.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”


Enemy: your emotion that you think you want to use the digital devices.


We need to understand that digital devices are so addictive and use of it triggers dopamine secretion.

(Resource: Addiction to Electronic Devices, by Johns Hopkins All Children Hospital 


Decreasing is Increasing

 

Your enemy and this enemy always try to drag you to the joy of digital device use.


"Social media and mobile devices may lead to psychological and physical issues, such as eyestrain and difficulty focusing on important tasks. They may also contribute to more serious health conditions, such as depression. The overuse of technology may have a more significant impact on developing children and teenagers."

Resource: Medical News Today


If you can manage yourself by deleting the unnecessary app from your phone for your digital detox, it will also be a great way to achieve your goal. 


Please refer to the article, Why uninstall the app for a digital detox essential? to know why erasing unused or seductive apps from your phone is so important.


To increase your free time and do a digital detox at the same time, decreasing the time on digital devices is the actual goal.


Everyone knows it but not so many people know "how" to do it, so it is very easy to give up their digital detox challenge.


I want to highlight the importance of decreasing because decreasing the use of digital devices will increase free time, so let's look at my own method called The 13 hours rule in the next paragraph.



The 13 hours rule



The 13 hours rule is a rule that requires you not to use or even touch any of the digital devices for continuous 13 hours.


I came up with this idea after I have tried out several patterns so I do not have a concrete reason why I set the time for 13 hours.


If you sleep for eight hours a day, then five hours of waiting time are your digital detox time.


Without any rule, it seems difficult not to touch any of the digital devices for five hours but there is a tip to achieve this challenge even every day.


For instance, this is what I do.

  • at 21:00, turn off all the digital devices
  • 21:00-22:30 / Shower, reading, and meditation 
  • 23:00 / Go to bed
  • 08:00 to 09:00 / I usually wake up around this time
  •  - 10:00 / Coffee and meditation 
  • 10:00 is 13 hours from 21:00 so I can start using devices if I want to

If you take a look at my example, it seems pretty doable, right?


By the way, the article "Extreme digital detox challenge “Unplug the wifi before you sleep”" may help you to achieve the 13 hours rule challenge.


One tip here is to decide what time to start and what time to end.


If you want to know more about the detailed step of digital detox, the below article will be something interesting to read; How to start digital detox with 5 steps: read this if you are a digital nomad


If you get used to The 13 hours rule, then you want to check out other methods for more serious digital detox; Digital detox activities: 5 examples and how to start them


Thanks for reading and I hope you will succeed in your own journey of digital detox.