​Six quick steps to start a Digital Detox

Constant phone usage means no downtime. You need downtime.

Look around you on the bus and on the train no one is talking to each other anymore but they all are looking down at their phones. According to a recent survey, 53 per cent of us are checking our phones within five minutes of waking up.

Are you checking your phone all the time? Do you feel the need to check your social media 80 per cent of the day? Do you feel anxious if you don’t have access to your smartphone, tablet or computer? Is it a habit that you can't seem to kick? Then it might be worth trying a digital detox.

We are getting extremely addicted to our devices and it’s scary. Remember, your smartphone and tablet are supposed to help you, not cause anxiety or stress.

Follow these six easy steps to start your digital detox today.

1. Plan Ahead

The less you look at your device, the less you’ll feel the need to, so if you rely on your phone to wake up in the mornings, get an alarm clock instead, or if you glance at your phone to check the time, start wearing a watch. Leave your phone at home for one day and you’ll see that it’s unlikely that anything huge will happen. Even in an emergency, people will find another way to contact you.

Remember people were fine without mobile phones 10 years ago.

2. Set a Time Limit

Impose a time limit each time to use your smartphone. Then don’t use it outside of those hours. You could even create a technology ‘swear jar’ so that every time your partner or family checks their phone during a conversation or meal, they have to pay up.

3. Ban the Bedroom

The longer you look at your phone in bed the longer it will take you to fall asleep as the light from the screen affects the chemicals in your brain. Ban your bedroom of phone, tablet, TV and computer and cuddle up to the person next to you.

4. Communicate the Old-Way

Texting and Liking something on Facebook doesn’t offer the same level of intimacy of a real conversation. Pick up the phone to talk to your friends and family. Remember, just because there are more ways of communicating now, doesn’t mean that they are better.

5. Consider Your Kids

Parents sometimes use technology as a ‘babysitter’ to keep their children occupied but this can turn into a dangerous habit. If you are careful, your children can be addicted to screen time too. But limiting your own screen time is a good habit, which will drift down to them.

6. Turn off Notifications

These are a constant distraction, each one demanding your attention and interrupting your day. Take control of what you give attention to, Switch your notifications off so you can concentrate on one thing at a time.

Hopefully with these tips you will be more productive, have better quality time with your children and you will be less stressed. Don’t be available 24 hours a day, and create quiet times.

If you know more tips to start a digital detox, please leave a comment.