Digital Detox

Digital Detox

Having conducted workshops on the subject it seemed right to muse about Digital Detox as the first post on my website.

Digital detox means different things to different people – a day off the smart phone, few hours away from emails, not watching the favourite shows on the television, etc etc. It is about avoiding compulsive behaviour towards any digital device, be it the phone, email, television or such. The moot question – who rules? You or the digital world?

My workshop title is “Embracing the digital world, while letting go”. Yes, there’s no escaping the fact that technology is all pervasive – the way you work, play, connect, learn, bank; and frankly as we are realising in this lock-down world – integral and essential to exist. So, we need to embrace it of course – see it as an enabler, a means to an end, an end which is defined by us and not the phone or the email or the television.

So then why detox at all? Simply because it should not impair the way you work.
Some of the issues faced – a) dexterity is affected – the way you use our hands; b) sleep deprivation– getting up in the middle of the night to send that email or finish the game; c) social anxiety – “why have I not received a response, why is my post not yet been liked”; d) sedentary behaviour leading to obesity; e) eye strain; f) hormone surge; the list is LONG. Its no surprise that some psychologists equate this to drug abuse.

So, given that we are living in a digital world and new and advanced technologies will make this the way of life, what can we do to get back control. Yes, that’s key – it’s about who is in charge – your phone or you? 

Some little behaviour changes which can help – a) make a habit of not touching the phone 30 minutes before you sleep and after you wake up (definitely not checking in the middle of the night); b) every 3 hours during the day, take time out for 20 minutes when you do not touch your phone, or check emails or watch any videos or television; c) Take one day (to start) in the month when you are digital-free for 24 hours; d) read a physical book while commuting or just do nothing; e) periodically cleanse your email box and apps – sometime the sheer volume of available information can be draining.

Take back charge and be the generative you!