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30.04.2022

Digital detox: simply switch off

Do you use your smartphone or does it use you? More than 5 hours of screen time per day, 8 social media accounts, mobile phone chains instead of wedding rings and sidewalks for smartphone users. What is still normal use and when is it too much? The smartphone has not only shaped the way we live, but also the way we deal with our fellow human beings on a daily basis. In today’s blog, you’ll learn how to break away from your smartphone and how to achieve lower screen time and a more relaxed everyday life with the help of digital detox.

Digital detox – What is that anyway?

The word digital detox is made up of the two terms digital (digital media and devices) and the word detox (detoxification). In short, you do without the use of all the digital devices that our environment offers you. In addition to the smartphone, this also includes, for example, the computer, laptop and the much-loved tablet.

A good example of lingering for hours and not getting away from it is social media. They include the channels Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, which is currently particularly popular. After each picture or video, we resolve to look at just one more and then begin the actual task we set out to do before opening the app. Most of the time it doesn’t just stay with this one video, it takes seconds, minutes and maybe even hours before we get moving.

We don’t use our smartphones for that many hours a day, do we?

Wrongly thought, in 2021 the screen time on the smartphone was around 5 or more hours a day. When smartphones weren’t common, we probably still spent our time in front of the television, but today it’s been replaced by smartphones. However, the use of the television, computer and game consoles is not simply absent, it is added to the 5 hours of screen time already described.

What good can digital detox do for us?

Concentration support: Through a constant sensory overload, here an e-mail, there a new Whatsapp message, in between a few push messages from Instagram, a new friend request via Facebook and a few unread SMS, we rapidly increase our stress level. So we switch from app to app and do some private and professional tasks in between. Nowadays we call such switching between apps and tasks multitasking. Nobody knows that this is often the cause of burnout symptoms, because there is no really functioning multitasking and it is about as unrealistic as a rainbow-colored unicorn.

If you take a closer look at the tasks you have just completed, you will notice that those for which you also used your smartphone in between were solved much more inefficiently than it could be. The result is a poor solved task and insufficient concentration.

This is where the digital detox comes into play – by consciously putting your smartphone away, digital detox can help you to increase your concentration and focus on the actual task.

More regeneration time: The constant thinking that we are missing something without our smartphone completely upsets our inner balance. The restlessness that this creates also has an effect on the quality of our sleep. So if you try not to use your cell phone before you go to bed, this will have a noticeable effect on the quality of your sleep.

Calmness and mindfulness: As already described several times above, day in and day out we put our brain under enormous pressure by constantly checking news, posts, mails, stories and messages. After that, we don’t really want to settle down either. A digital detox can help us to be more mindful, calm and relaxed in everyday life and learn to enjoy the small things in life without a smartphone.

Social contacts are important: When was the last time you had a real visitor and how often do you actually have your smartphone in your hand when meeting friends? All of these are questions that affect our social life, but no one can really give a concrete answer. Now, if we’re honest with ourselves, we have to admit that each of us has been on our smartphones when meeting friends. Even if it was only a few minutes, the glance at the smartphone and the ignorance towards our friend immediately bring the situation to a head. After all, who wants to have a conversation with someone who isn’t even listening to you? Digital detox brings you closer to people again and encourages you to listen attentively.

Conclusion

Digital detox brings us a little bit closer to reality and our social life. It gives us more social contacts, a more balanced demeanor and better concentration. Try it out for a few days, you will notice how you will radiate with new energy and get much more to do as you tried with multitasking.

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