It’s hard to imagine a world before technology. When we didn’t rely on our cell phones to check the time, access the menu at a restaurant or distract ourselves from awkward social situations. When coming home from work didn’t mean planting ourselves on the couch and mindlessly scrolling through social media for hours.
Those were the days when technology wasn’t woven into so many aspects of our lives, and looking back, it’s almost like we lived in a different world altogether.
If you’ve ever wished you could go back to the simplicity of those times, even just for a little bit, guess what? You totally can!
By doing a digital detox, you can rediscover that simplicity.
In this post, I’ll guide you through the steps to do a successful digital detox in 2024.
What is a Digital Detox?
But first, what is a digital detox?
A digital detox is a planned, intentional break from your digital devices. It involves abstaining from using your cell phone, laptop and tablet for a predetermined length of time in an effort to disconnect with technology and reconnect with the world around you.
The term ‘digital detox‘ was born in 2012 when a group of researchers came together to discuss solutions for managing smartphone addiction. At that time, people were already spending nearly 3 hours a day on their smartphones!
You would think that over the last decade we would have come up with solutions for managing this excessive cell phone usage, but we have not. Average cell phone usage remains at a staggering 3 hours and 15 minutes a day.
Even in 2012, doing a digital detox was seen as a challenge. But now? Some experts argue that it’s simply impossible due to how much we rely on technology.
I disagree.
Can You Do a Digital Detox in 2024?
A digital detox is possible to do in 2024, you just have to rethink your approach.
Although ditching your cell phone for 10 days may not be possible anymore, there are many other ways you can do a digital detox.
You can choose to unplug completely or just cut down on your screen time. Your digital detox can last a few hours, several days, or even longer if you’re feeling adventurous. The beauty in starting a digital detox is that there are no hard and fast rules. But the goal is always the same – to temporarily unplug from technology so that you can reconnect with the world around you.
It’s important to note that a digital detox isn’t a magic solution to a cell phone addiction. Expecting your digital detox to break your cell phone addiction is akin to doing a juice cleanse and thinking it’ll permanently transform your eating habits.
A digital detox is simply a temporary solution for excessive technology usage. It offers a chance to reset and gain perspective.
With this being said, if you do want to break your cell phone addiction, doing a digital detox can help kickstart your journey!
Why Do Digital Detoxes Fail?
Many digital detoxes fail. I know, so depressing! But it’s important to know this going into it as it’ll help you avoid making the mistakes that often cause these failures.
Below are 5 reasons why digital detoxes fail.
5 Reasons Why Digital Detoxes Fail
1. Quitting Cold Turkey Doesn’t Always Work
Most people decide to a digital detox because they feel like their technology usage is getting out of hand. Some would even go as far as to say that they have a technology addiction.
When it comes to any addiction, quitting cold turkey doesn’t always work. But that’s essentially what a digital detox is. It’s not a slow and deliberate process of weaning yourself off of using your cell phone all the time. No, it’s drawing a hard line in the sand and telling yourself that you can not use your digital devices for a certain length of time. And this extreme approach doesn’t equip you with the tools and strategies to resist temptation when you feel the urge to start scrolling. Which is actually the reason why so many digital detoxes fail.
2. Lack of Support
We all know that technology can negatively impact our lives. That’s why we’re all here, right?
But technology also has the power to connect us all in ways that were never possible before.
Many of us live far from our friends and family and the Snapchats, texts and phone calls are how we stay in touch with one another.
But sometimes this constant connectivity can do more harm than good. It can pull us away from the present moment. Hence, the need for a digital detox.
In order to successfully do a digital detox, you’ll want to tell your friends and family of your goal to disconnect for a little while. If you don’t, your loved ones may become upset with you for not responding to your cell phone. Or worse – they may think you’re in some sort of danger.
If your friends and family aren’t supportive of your decision to do a digital detox, it can make it so much harder to be successful.
3. Lack of Alternative Activities
For many of us, our digital devices are our main sources of entertainment. When we have free time we watch tv, read articles online or play video games. So without our cell phones or computers to entertain us, we may find ourselves with nothing to do in our free time.
In order to have a successful digital detox, you’ll want to come up with alternative activities to do before you start your detox. This will ensure that you don’t reach for your cell phone out of boredom.
So, write a list of things you can do instead of scrolling on your cellphone.
Here are some examples:
- Write a letter to a friend or family member
- Read a book
- Explore a new hobby
- Cook a meal from scratch
- Meditate
- Take a relaxing bath
Have some downtime at work? Here are 10 things to do instead of scrolling social media.
4. Work
Another reason why digital detoxes fail? Work.
Many of us have jobs that require us to spend hours on our cell phones or computers. So if your goal is to do a digital detox that extends into the work week, you may find that you simply can’t.
If your job requires you to spend time on your computer, factor that into the “rules” of your digital detox. Perhaps instead of saying that you’ll do a digital detox for 3 days you can be more specific to exclude the time you spend at work. For instance, Monday through Wednesday from 6 a.m. – 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.-10 p.m. We’ll get into how to set up ‘rules’ for your digital detox later in this post.
5. Dependency
Lastly, your digital detox may fail because you are too dependent on your digital devices.
If you rely on the alarm on your phone to wake up in the morning, your notepad app to jot down your thoughts, and the maps app to get you where you need to go, cutting yourself off from all of these digital tools can make you literally dysfunctional.
I recommend finding alternative ways of accomplishing these same things before starting your digital detox – like buying a traditional, analog alarm clock instead of relying on your cell phone. If you don’t want to make these changes, then account for this in your digital detox plan.
How to Do a Digital Detox: 5-Step Guide
Now that we’ve covered the common reasons why digital detoxes often fail, let’s dive into the fun part—how to actually start a digital detox!
Here’s how to do a digital detox in 5 simple steps!
1. Monitor Your Current Cell Phone Usage
The first step to planning a digital detox is to figure out how much time you’re currently spending on your devices. This can help you set goals for your detox and help you stay motivated! If you’re feeling the urge to look at your cell phone during your detox, you can just remind yourself that you spent 6 hours scrolling thorugh Instagram last Monday — yikes!
Before your digital detox, I recommend tracking your usage for at least a week to give you a good read on how much time you’re currently spending on your devices.
There are plenty of great apps and tools that can help you monitor your usage.
Here are some of my favorites.
3 Best App Usage Trackers for iPhone and Android
Below are my favorite app usage trackers for iPhone and Android devices.
1. Android Digital Wellbeing & iOS Screen Time
Before you rush to the app store, did you know that your phone has built in tools to help you control your cell phone usage? This means that if you’ve purchased a new Android or iPhone in the past few years, there’s a good chance that these two apps are already preinstalled.
For iPhone users, this app is called Screen Time and for Android users it’s Digital Wellbeing.
Both apps can be accessed by opening your device’s Settings app.
If you’re an Android user tap Digital Wellbeing & parental controls. If you don’t find it right away, tap Show all apps.
For iPhone users go to Settings > Screen Time and tap See All Activity under the graph.
Screen Time allows you to access real-time reports showing how much time you spend on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. You can also set daily app limits and schedule ‘downtime’. By scheduling downtime, only phone calls and apps that you choose to allow will be available.
Digital Wellbeing not only tracks your app and website usage but also allows you to customize your display settings for different times of the day. You can schedule personalized routines, such as bedtime mode or focus mode, to help you optimize your screen settings based on your goals. For bedtime, you can set your phone wallpaper to automatically dim or for your display to switch to grayscale mode. For focus mode, you can block specific apps to eliminate distractions.
2. Stayfree
StayFree is the highest rated screen time & self control app on the Play Store. And for you iPhone users, it’s available in the Apple store too.
StayFree markets itself as a productivity app, helping you waste less time on your cell phone.
Below are some of the app’s capabilities:
- Blocks distracting websites
- Compares your cell phone usage with other users
- Provides an overview of your daily usage
- Provides insightful reports
- Schedules time to focus
StayFree’s simple interface makes it super easy to use!
3. ActionDash
And last but not least, there’s ActionDash, a unique player in the world of usage tracking apps.
What makes ActionDash stand out is its ability to exclude specific apps from your screen time calculations. So, if you, like me, find it annoying that apps like Spotify and Google Maps get lumped into your daily screen time stats when you’re not actively using them, ActionDash’s “app exclusions” feature is a game-changer.
For example, I’m more concerned about tracking my gaming and social media usage rather than counting the time spent on messaging apps. ActionDash lets me customize my tracking experience by excluding irrelevant apps from the total screen time count.
2. Decide on Duration
After you’ve done some research into your current cell phone usage, you’ll want to start planning your digital detox.
The first step to planning a digital detox is to decide on the duration of the detox. Will it be a short but effective hour-long break, a two-day detox, or perhaps a more immersive week-long break? Alternatively, you might prefer a partial detox, limiting your screen time to specific hours during certain days.
For instance, you could choose to disconnect on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., allowing yourself dedicated time away from your screens while still maintaining flexibility in your schedule. Remember, tailoring the detox duration to your needs ensures that it’s realistic and achievable. There’s no “right way” to do a digital detox. It’s all about what works for you and your schedule but still challenges you to cut back on your screen time.
2. Consider Your “Exceptions”
I’ve completed a handful of digital detoxes. I did an accidental 4 day digital detox when I lost my phone on the first day of a family vacation (not fun), on a backpacking trip and during a work week when I was feeling like I was spending too much time on my cell phone.
As you can imagine, it’s much more difficult to completely avoid your cell phone when you’re at home then when you’re on a backpacking trip in the wilderness.
This is why incorporating “exceptions” into your digital detox plan is crucial.
It’s important to establish your exceptions before you start your digital detox so that you don’t get discouraged if you find yourself needing to use your cell phone for something.
There are a wide range of exceptions you may set for yourself.
For example, during my backpacking trip, I told myself that I wouldn’t use my cell phone unless there was an absolute emergency – no exceptions. To ensure I stuck with it I printed a trail map so I wouldn’t rely on the GPS on my phone. I also chose not to take any photographs during my trip to further disconnect from my cell phone.
When I did a digital detox during the work week, I gave myself quite a bit of wiggle room. I allowed myself to use my cell phone at work but only for work related tasks. After all, the goal of this digital detox was not to inhibit my ability to get my job done.
4. Keep a Log of Your Progress
During your digital detox, it’s important to keep a log of your progress. That way, you can track how cutting back on your screen time is affecting your state of mind and reflect on any potential hiccups that have arisen.
I recommend making it a habit to journal nightly.
Here are some examples of questions you can answer in the entries:
- On a scale of 1-5 how tempted were you to use your digital devices during the day?
- Any slip-ups? What triggered them, and how did you bounce back?
- On a scale of 1-5 how was your mental health today?
- What did you do with your free time today?
- When feeling tempted to use your digital devices, what did you do instead?
This log will serve as a great place for reflection and also keep you inspired throughout your detox.
5. Reflect Afterwards
It’s not only important to track your progress during your digital detox, it’s equally important to reflect afterwards.
Setting aside some time after your official detox is over to reflect on the experience will make it much easier to integrate some of the things you learned into your day to day life.
After all, taking a break from your digital devices for a few days is great, but you know what’s even better? Coming out of your detox with a newfound understanding of how to keep your technology usage down.
So, take a look through the log you put together during your detox and make some conclusions about the challenges you had and your wins.
You’ve Got This!
If you’ve been thinking about starting a digital detox in 2024, go for it!
Don’t let the people who claim that doing a digital detox in 2024 isn’t possible dis-wade you. Yes, it will be challenging to disconnect in a world that is so deeply dependent on technology, but just remember that there are no hard and fast rules for how you approach your digital detox. Even just committing to several hours away from your cell phone might be a great first step to healing your relationship with technology.
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