Technology is an integral part of everyday life. We use it for work, communicating with others, entertainment, and more. It’s become more integrated into every aspect of our lives. Many people find they are spending far too much time on screens. As a result, we need to be more intentional about when and where we allow it to distract our lives. This is why unplugging from technology is a must have self-care routine. You need to start doing it to gain better control of your time.
What Are The Benefits Of Unplugging From Technology?
Unplugging from technology can help you achieve a healthier lifestyle. It can lead to better sleep habits, stress relief activities such as meditation, breathing exercises, etc. This leads to more energy and productivity throughout the day.
Better Relationships
A digital detox eliminates distractions and misunderstandings in your personal relationships. This allows you to make a deeper connection with your friends and family.
Technology makes it easy for us to escape reality and stay in our comfort zone, so it is crucial that we are intentional about getting in touch with the people in our lives. To grow and learn from others, we have to take a step outside of our bubble and connect with them face-to-face. This will help create a stronger bond in the long term.
Improved Focus
On any given day, we get hundreds of messages that we need to catch up on. Most of them can wait, and they won’t even be relevant tomorrow. With that being said, you save lots of your time and become more efficient when you intentionally choose what you do with your time.
When you aren’t constantly being flooded with information, it allows you to align yourself towards what needs your focus at the moment. Whether it is work or learning something new that will help you grow as a person.
Self-Care Gets Easier
Many people don’t take care of themselves because they are constantly occupied with what’s happening on their screens. It isn’t easy to regularly take time for yourself when you are used to always being busy. You can finally start making small changes in your life that will be beneficial when you replace some of that screen time by treating yourself to something good for you.
You’ll Have A Clearer Mind
When distractions are removed, so are unnecessary thoughts. Self-reflection and creativity become easier as you have a clear mind to process things without being influenced by anything else around you.
More Time For Everything Else
Constantly being connected to technology means you can easily sucked into things that don’t contribute to your long-term goals. Unplugging from technology gives you more time to do that thing you’ve always been wanting get to. Simply giving yourself more time increases your chances of success with your goals. Isn’t that amazing!?
How Can Technology Negatively Affect You?
Technology can negatively impact us in many different ways. Technology has made it really easy to communicate with people from anywhere in the world at anytime of the day. This is an amazing accomplishment, but it’s drastically changed the way we communicate with each other. We’re spending way less time with one another because we constantly communicate passively through our devices instead of being together. Think of all the emotion going undetected and how loose communication can get with this becoming the norm. We need to be even more intentional about coming together and enjoying the company of friends and family.
Chances are your dating life has been affected by technology. Research has found things such as feelings of distrust, fear of safety, and unrealistic beauty standards as just a few of the issues people experience while trying to find a partner online. This doesn’t make online dating a bad thing, but it does mean that maybe you shouldn’t only be looking for a partner on dating apps. Get out and talk to some people from time to time.
The list goes on and on, so you should definitely look into how tech can negatively affect different aspects of your life and protect against it if it’s not desirable.
How Can You Unplug From Technology To Fight The Negative Effects?
Reduce Stress
Stress is unfortunately a part of life and is healthy in small doses, but it can negatively affect your mental and physical wellbeing if not managed properly. The good news is there are many ways to relieve stress, such as meditation, affirmations, breathing exercises, walking outside, listening to music, etc.
Get Some Sleep
Sleep allows your mind and body to rejuvenate so you can face another demanding day. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should sleep 7-9 hours each night for optimal health. If you’re having trouble getting to sleep. Bedtime affirmations could help do the trick.
Take A Break
Stop spending so much time on your phone by putting it away for a certain amount of hours each day or going on digital detoxes where you will not use any technology at all. This will allow you to recharge and fully focus on is truly important in your day.
Spend Quality Time With Friends And Family
Make an effort to be more present when you spend with family and friends by putting away your cell phone or tablet. Focusing on your relationships without the distractions of technology help strengthen your bond long term.
Stop Comparing Yourself On Social Media
In real life, people’s lives are never as glamorous as they are on social media. It’s mostly a contrived image designed to attract attention, it’s not reality.
Put Yourself First
Take a break from technology to focus on other priorities in life such as your family, friends, or your career. Organize time every day just for yourself to get back into the habit of being productive without technology being involved. Find ways to take care of yourself that don’t involve screens. You can meditate, do yoga, go for a walk outside in nature, whatever you like that disconnects you from technology for a while.
Set Boundaries
Set limits and social boundaries for yourself. Commit to unplugging during certain hours, and don’t be afraid to put your phone away when out with friends.
Ways To Use Technology To Help You Unplug More Effectively
We live in a high-tech world, and we take advantage of all the many different types of technology to help us in our day-to-day lives. With so much information at our fingertips, it can be challenging to maintain focus and productivity levels, among other things. It sounds a bit weird to use technology to avoid using technology, but you can totally do it! Below are some really good ways to use your devices to help unplug from tech:
Put Notifications On Silent
Have you ever been working away, and something pops up on your cell phone? Whether it’s a text message, facebook notification, or something work related like email–this will immediately pull you out of the zone that you were trying to get into. It’s a really simple solution but with your phone silenced, it will lessen the amount of distractions you get throughout the day and allows you to focus better.
Stop Randomly Surfing The Web
How many times have you picked up your phone or browsed to Facebook during work? If you’ve managed to keep notifications from distracting you, maybe you still can’t resist visiting websites or apps to see what’s going on. Many people might fall under this category, but it’s important to stay away from sites that are not productive while you’re trying to get your work done.
If you want to know how often you get distracted during the day with websites, install an app like RescueTime. Your usage numbers for specific sites will be surprising. It may be tough to change immediately, but with this information you can start using your time better.
Keep Your Devices Out Of Sight
It’s almost like you can hear your phone saying “look at me!” sometimes right?! Having your phone in front of you can be a distraction that will prevent you from getting into the zone. Put your phone away in a drawer or another room so it doesn’t attract your attention for a while.
There are many different ways technology can help us live our daily lives; however, there are also some distractions that come with it. Using the tips above can help you stay away from distractions and focus on what’s most important to you at the end of the day.
How Often Should You Do A Digital Detox?
If you notice that you’re checking every notification, maybe it’s time to take a break. When the posts on social media begin to aggravate you, that’s an indicator that a detox is in order. Figuring out how long you should detox from tech depends on what works best for your lifestyle.
If a set number of days don’t work for you, reduce the amount of times you use technology per week. Most phones allow you to see how much time you’re spending on each app per day or week. You can set app time limits on some phones and get an alert when you go over. Give it a try! You can always change back if you don’t like it. You may not even be aware you’re spending so much time in these apps.
A digital detox can be beneficial for people from all walks of life. You may find it difficult at first, but once you find something you enjoy doing rather than scrolling through social media, text messaging friends, or watching videos you begin to look forward to your time away from technology. It is a great way to improve your mental and physical health. For example, you can pick a day in the week where you do not use technology except for emergencies. Try going for a walk that day, rather than staying inside on your phone or laptop.
Conclusion
Unplugging from technology is an important step to enjoying life more and taking care of your mental health. By managing stress properly instead of reaching for our devices, we feel naturally better. Reducing your daily tech usage can improve every aspect of your life.