How To Enjoy A Digital Detox Over Christmas By Brad McKenna, University of East Anglia and Wenjie Cai, University of Greenwich for Natural Blaze
It is not surprising that many of us have been suffering from digital overload during the pandemic, and taking care of our “digital wellbeing” has become a common theme. Social media, online shopping, making reservations, and even necessary chores like paying bills have meant that technology has pervaded every aspect of our lives.
Whether home schooling or working from home, our mobile phones have never been far from our side. We’ve even embraced video communication technology for keeping in touch with friends and loved ones, whether they live locally or thousands of miles away.
To be frank, it can be very hard to imagine how we can just decide to cut it off. And the constant pressure to always be available – and reply immediately – can be overwhelming.
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But with Christmas coming, you may be planning to take a break from work and perhaps even go on holiday. So, why not take the opportunity to have a break from technology and try a digital detox?
In our new work we investigated different ways to reduce tech use on holiday. Here’s what we discovered.
1. Lock it away
By far the most efficient way to get the most out of the experience is to lock your phone, laptop and tablets away. Of course, you have the option to turn on “do not disturb” mode, or selectively turn off notifications on some apps. However, it is quite a task to turn off notifications for certain groups of apps, and with your phone still in your pocket there’s always an excuse to check Facebook or Instagram, to reply to an email, or upload a photo. This approach means you could still scroll through your phone, and muscle memory means you can open apps without even realising it.
You could consider limiting your phone usage time. For example, one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. But our study found that soon you would spend much longer without realising it and find more excuses to be online.
