Take control of your life with a digital detox
Challenging at the beginning, but worth it at the end.
👥 Serves: No limits of people
🎚 Difficulty: Medium
⏳ Total time: As long as you need!
🥣 Ingredients: Will power, family and friends, new hobbies, a screen time reducing app (optional), a timed lockbox (for extreme cases only)
💪 Nutritional values: Better sleep, increased productivity, improved relationships, and no more neck strain
Take control of your life with a digital detox
📝 Description
Disconnecting digitally to reconnect meaningfully.
With infinite knowledge and endless distractions just a click away, it is now more important than ever to create healthy boundaries with technology.
Technology is a wonderful thing. It makes your life easier, it entertains you, and it helps you connect with people all over the world – however, you very well know that even too much of a good thing can be detrimental to your health. So, time to tune in, log off, and drop out from time to time because you have got all the info you need to find that sweet spot between staying connected and getting unplugged.
This recipe has been kindly adapted from an article “How to unplug your home for the ultimate digital detox” written by Teresa Siqueira, Content Marketer at Porch. You might also be interested in the following articles published on Porch: Home factors most contributing to relationship satisfaction, Kids with tech, and How to plan the best staycation ever.
👣 Steps
Step 1 – Do something else
Taking a vacation from your tech is as easy as it sounds. Before you reach for your phone, tune into your favourite streaming service, or grab your laptop to do some online retail therapy, here are some suggestions of alternative activities that can be done alone or with loved ones:
- Pick up a book you have meant to read for a while.
- Take a walk to a nearby park or, if you are lucky enough, to a nearby beach.
- Have family or friends participate in a game night. If you require some alone time, pick up a puzzle, a crossword, a word search, or maybe some sudoku to pass the time.
- Try a new hobby such as baking, knitting, crocheting, and if you’re feeling adventurous, you could try taking on a home project and renovating your space.
- Keeping your mind and hands busy will be a crucial factor in reducing your screen time.
Step 2 – Establish limits and goals
Set a weekly goal to spend less time using technology. You can start with 30 minutes of tech-free time each day and gradually increase it to one hour next week and keep it going until you are comfortable.
Step 3 – Get your loved ones involved
Getting family and friends involved is a great way to be held accountable. Here are some fun ways to get them engaged:
- Make it into a friendly competition! Share everyone’s smartphone screen time report at the end of the week, and whoever spends the least amount of time looking at their screen can get a free dinner next time you are out or a gift card.
- Have tech-free dinners. If you are eating at a restaurant, you can place all your smartphones on the table, and the first person to look at their phone must buy a round of drinks or desserts for the table.
- Have a tech-free day at home. Challenge yourself and your loved ones to ditch the tech for the day and plan fun activities to do together.
Step 4 – Reward yourself
It is important to reward yourself when you have accomplished something. We recommend you award yourself with tech-free prizes:
- Go out for a tech-free date to your favourite restaurant.
- Buy yourself something that’s been on your wishlist forever.
- Have a relaxing spa night at home or treat yourself to a facial or massage.
- Create a tech-free sanctuary room at home where you can spend time offline every day.
Whatever you choose to do, make sure you feel proud of yourself for taking time to do a digital detox, and you might discover you can enjoy your life tech-free. If you need more guidance on how to break from your current tech habits to establish healthier ones, we also invite you to check out our recipe “Habit tracker”.