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Digital detox? Is this a real thing? Do we need to take a break from our smartphones and other digital devices? Could it be time to power off for a few hours to take a break from your internet addiction?

The average person spends at least 6 hours a day on their laptop, personal computer, tablet, smartphone, or combination of the above and many spend more, especially if they have to use any type of digital media for work. Could it be poisoning our brains and taking over our lives? Do we need to detox our minds just like we do our bodies? In the following article, we shall discuss the need for a digital detox to refresh our minds, bodies, and souls.

Why you need a digital detox

The following article on Forbes.com discusses some reasons why we should take a break from our digital devices. It is estimated that we reach for our cell phones an average of eighty times a day, whether its to make or answer a call, reply to or send a text message, play a game, check one of our many apps or look up something online, thus making us slaves to our phones. Following are some reasons why we should take a break from our smartphones, whether it be for an evening out, an entire day or even a weekend.

  1. Get our creative juices flowing:

If we are completely honest, the majority of the time we are on our phones or online, we are preoccupied with meaningless stuff, and we weaken our ability to recognize simple thought patterns and turn them into ideas. If we take a break from our phones, we are more aware of our surroundings and we use all of our senses, thus heightening our sense of creativity.

  1. Think clearer:

If we turn off our digital devices, we will be able to entirely focus on the task at hand, thus seeing things in proper perspective.

  1. Improve our interpersonal relationships:

So many things are misconstrued via texts, instant messages, and emails. Face-to-face communication is the best way to improve and enhance our relations with our family, friends, and co-workers.

  1. Improve our health:

In choosing to spend time with people instead of electronics, we can improve both our physical and mental health. Human interaction boosts our immune system and eliminates stress and anxiety.

Helpful tips to help you power off your devices

Frank Lipman, M.D. offers 11 useful tips to help you take a break from your digital devices in the following article.

  1. If you are afraid that you have an internet addiction, seek professional help.
  2. Retrain yourself how to find entertainment elsewhere.
  3. Set a “lights out” time and stick to it.
  4. Reacquaint yourself to pen and paper.
  5. Take a break from social media.
  6. Slow down with the emails.
  7. Read with an LED light at night.
  8. Turn off your smartphone — and hide it.
  9. Wear an old-fashioned watch (analog) instead of relying on your cell phone to check the time.
  10. Spend more time in places where cell phones are considered taboo.
  11. Make plans using a paper calendar, to-do-list or planner.

Helpful Apps that can monitor your screen time.

In her blog in the New York Times, Jenna Wortham suggests the following apps to help keep track of how much time you spend on your phone.

  1. Moment: tracks how much time you have spent on your iPhone and iPad per day.
  2. Checky: keeps track of how many times you “unlock” or “open” your phone each day.

Do you think it’s time for a digital detox? Challenge yourself to take short breaks from your digital devices and see how much better you feel! OPTOFF.

 

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