Social media is so ingrained in our lives that it’s hard to imagine a day going by without checking the smartphone. Now we use gadgets not only for entertainment and communication but also to run businesses and build our brands. Naturally, spending so much time online has its consequences. What happens if you decide to take a digital detox for a week or two? It turns out, by doing so you can find out a lot about yourself and life in general. Here are 3 surprising things you’ll notice after going into a ‘digital detox’.
What Is a Digital Detox?
Digital detox is a set period of time when we refrain from using phones and other digital gadgets. We also avoid surfing the Internet and checking social media accounts. Ideally, you should fully immerse yourself in real non-digital life to reap all the benefits of a digital detox. In this day and age, people of all occupations should do it from time to time, be it professional resume writers or other jobs that involve working online. Let’s review 3 unexpected things you might uncover when taking a digital detox.
1. Social Media Is Just a Distraction
Social media and other online activities distract us from what’s really important. Once you spend some time without them, you will quickly realize that you have a lot of free time on your hands. You can spend this time on hobbies you once enjoyed or to communicate with your family. Engaging with your friends in real-time helps build stronger bonds, while online communication can often come off as more shallow. Once you get rid of the phone, you will be able to connect to the people you care about on a whole new level.
2. We Use Social Media to Fill Up Empty Spaces
It turns out we spend almost 45% of our free time checking social media and other online platforms. Sometimes we do this even without realizing it, looking through social media feeds instead of spending time with friends or enjoying hobbies. Once you take a digital detox, you might not even know what to do next, when there is no phone or laptop around. How would you fill up your time without the Internet and online-related things? A digital detox will help you reconnect with yourself and your true needs that often stay hidden behind the array of meaningless online actions.
3. You Can Live Without Gadgets and Social Media
Once you spend some time without gadgets, you will notice that levels of anxiety decrease considerably. You will find that you can finish a project, read a book, or cook a meal without constantly checking your phone. Using less screen time can improve your sleep and boost your overall mental well-being. You also have the chance to realize what you actually like to do in your free time when you aren’t distracted by your phone and other gadgets. You might reconnect to your old hobbies and start spending more time with your friends and family.
How to Take a Digital Detox
If you decide to unplug from various devices, you might find it easier to do when you follow a few simple rules. Even a few days of digital detox might help you relax and reduce stress levels. Here’s what you need to do:
- Define your deeper needs. What do you want to get when going online? It may be connection, information, or reading the latest news. Think about how you can fulfill your needs without actually going online.
- Define the rules applied to your detox. Is it a full detox or are there some exceptions? Sometimes our jobs are connected to social media and going online, so you can create a set of rules limiting the use of social media in your free time.
- Tell someone you’re doing a detox. Accountability is a powerful tool that will allow you to continue your detox even if you sometimes have doubts. You can also buddy up and do it with a friend or a group of colleagues.
Conclusion
On average, most people spend up to 7 hours per day using various gadgets. Not only do we work online but we also use the Internet in our free time. A digital detox will help you reconnect with your past hobbies and build stronger bonds with your friends. It can also improve the quality of your sleep and reduce anxiety levels. After finishing your digital detox, you will also notice that you can actually live without using gadgets all the time. Taking a digital detox is a great way to get to know yourself better and remember what you really like to do in your free time.