The way things are going, someone who is 16 today could spend an entire 5.6 years of their lives looking at their cell phones and being on social media. With 4.88 billion social media users worldwide, that’s a lot of wasted time in the future — not only will productivity suffer, more importantly, so can the quality of the person’s life. It was something late comedian George Carlin lamented as early as 2008; children, he worried, no longer seemed to know how to simply find a stick and dig a hole in the ground. No one was going outside.
Experts say even adults should limit screentime to two hours a day, but very few people both in and outside of the workforce are doing that. Thirty-one per cent of Americans are online constantly. And where are you currently reading this? Sixty-one per cent of people admit they’re addicted to their smartphones. Not only does that worsen the quality of life offline, perhaps even cause damage to some in-person relationships you may have, social media is also more likely to lead people with poor cognitive reflection down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. That’s to say nothing of your physical health potentially declining: we’ve finally now seen images of X/Twitter’s infamous Catturd2. It can damages your relationships both at work and at home.
This is where a digital detox comes in handy. Unplugging from your various online devices — tablets, smartphones, PCs, laptops and even gaming systems — is a major step in improving your quality of life. Gen Xers and even some millennials remember their youths nostalgically when the internet was maybe a few message boards they enjoyed, and phones were mainly for calling people to meet them somewhere. To people born post-9/11, that world is foreign, isolated and strange.
How Can I Do a Digital Detox?
First, it’s important to get a sense of how much time you spend on your phone. Smartphones and iPhones have a digital well-being feature that will tell you how much time you are spending on your digital device. From there, it’s helpful to try to understand your relationship with your phone – why are you spending that much time? Is it merely boredom? How much of it are you actively engaged with other people and what about? Getting a sense of your relationship with the device might make it easier to disconnect.
Set Goals
Try setting certain times of day to check emails and messages, but avoid other websites. Start scheduling breaks from your phone every 15-30 minutes. During meals might be a good time to start; however, doing any activity offline is a good way to break the hold it has over you. You may choose to only stop using certain social media sites if you feel they take the most time out of your day.
Tell People
A digital detox is not something that can be easily done if your phone is constantly pinging in the other room. Though you may feel ashamed, it’s important to let friends and family know you’re trying to spend less time with your phone. Overwhelmingly, people support this, particularly if it is causing issues with your relationships. One option might be to do a digital detox as a family, which involves setting the same goals and practicing them together. Like any addiction, getting past it is easier with other’s help.
Benefits of a Digital Detox
It may be worth it just for the physical benefit as evidenced by a neuroscience study in which 35 people were cut off from their phones. After three days without technology, their posture was noticeably better. Though things only improved otherwise. They started looking each other directly in the eyes when they spoke, improving the social conditions in the study. Conversations, free from Google, developed naturally. Creative storytelling and parlour games were a big hit.
Improved Memory
After only a few days into the study, participants remembered more complex details about others in the study. This suggests being away from your smartphone makes you more actively involved in conversations in real life, and you’re more likely to remember them.
Better Sleep
Better sleep does not necessarily translate into longer sleep. Participants noted that they actually slept less during the study, but felt more rejuvenated upon awaking.
Perspective Changes
Perhaps the most revealing and salient breakthrough during the neuroscience study were the major changes participants chose to make during the study. Some ended careers or made changes in long-term relationships, others made commitments to get in better shape. These were decisions that could have only come from internal desires, not an algorithm. In the face of AI, such decisions matter.
Kenny Hedges | Contributing Writer
