DIGITAL DETOX: 5 WAYS TO UNPLUG
As for the above title, I’m referring to the social media addiction the world suffers from. I explain the details of the virtual obsession in my Social Media Addict article you can read here. Regardless, it’s important to know why having our phones within reach at all waking hours of the day is detrimental to our health (on top of how most of us keep our phones within reach throughout the night too).
As for our smartphones, it isn’t a surprise that the constant checking and rechecking of them is draining our brains daily. The dopamine-induced cycle causes a habitual neurological addiction, keeping us wanting to see the notifications, constantly checking for them, and keeping our phones on hand.
So, I’ve come up with a list on how to unplug. I went on a 31-day social media cleanse and my life was significantly better. But after you complete the detox, or even if you don’t, it can be hard to keep consistent habits that will continue to better your life even with the virtual unreality. This list has helped me unplug as much as possible, while still balancing our social media driven world.
LET GO. Whether it’s 1 week or 2 months, try your best to go social media free. Delete the apps, end the streaks and focus on your real life interactions beyond a screen for as long as you can. I went more than 31 days and it made my life authentic and better.
BUY AN ALARM CLOCK. During or after the detox, buy an alarm clock. Using our phones as alarms forces them to be the first interactions we have in the morning and our final interactions at night. Not only do our devices become companions we spend too much time with, but when we mix in seeing them firstly and lastly between days, it can create an ~alarmingly~ unhealthy attachment!
TURN OFF NOTIFICATIONS. Whether it’s your emails, group messages, Tweets, SnapChats or Instagram likes– turn them off. You don’t need the constant flashes raiding your phone dozens of times a day to remind you to use it. Unsubscribe from the constant useless emails, turn off the alerts from SnapChat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook– all apps that are constantly consuming your attention. There are even ways to limit your usage! Take advantage of the ‘Screen Time’ and ‘Do Not Disturb’ features on your iPhone. Trust me, you’re better off not having reminders of things you aren’t missing out on.
LIMIT YOURSELF. After I finished my detox, I limited myself to going on the networks at most twice a day. You have better things to do than checking them every time you’re bored. This may be easier to do if you hide the apps where you can’t obviously see them– even moving them to a separate folder or onto a different page helps. They’re not going anywhere if you aren’t consistently on them. People will still be regularly active, but you don’t have to be.
PUT IT AWAY. Out of sight, out of mind (for the most part). Through a study done by the University of Chicago, it’s shown that our cognitive capacity is significantly reduced when our phones are within reach (even if they’re off). Having your phones near you can make it more difficult to complete tasks– getting work done, concentrating on an assignment or simply being completely present. Putting our phones away (in a bag, a different room or with a friend) can help us not only have better focus, but allow us to be completely present in the moment.
The thing is, our phones aren’t going anywhere. The social media networks will always be there, regardless of if you’re on them or not. People will always be posting, sharing, commenting, liking– but does keeping up with it truly do anything for you?
While our phones give us a limitless supply of social interaction– the feel-good rewards they provide are detaining us from the real life social interactions and pleasures we should be present for. We are worth more than confining ourselves to a single device that alters our perception of reality and true gratification. I refuse to believe that as humans, we’re supposed to pay more attention to a virtual companion than we are to each other. In a world where we have a million things to worry about, I promise you our phones should not, and never should have been one of them.