Do you or your teens need a digital detox? Does your life scream screen time? Do you have the courage to review and the will to change?
The car in front of me was wavering and moving slowly, not really sticking to the lane. As I overtook carefully, I realised he was texting as he drove. This is a common sight.
SIGNS WE NEED A DIGITAL DETOX
In the elevators all of us are hooked to reels or shows on the phone. The metro ride I took a few weeks back was revealing. In the entire compartment there were only two of us who chose to read a paperback. Many were watching shows or on video calls. The neighbors sitting next to them were never considered potential company as was the case earlier.
Take the same scene to a home where the family sits for a meal together. (This is also rare in many homes as each one takes their food to their rooms often!) On the table, you may often find your family engrossed on their devices as they eat. Very few words exchanged. Any request to put the phone aside is met with nothing short of a tantrum. You gently take away the phone and you find they quietly move to the laptop or tablet or find a way to go back to their rooms to eat and spend time scrolling on the phone.
You finally give up as it seems a lost battle.
Have you faced this? How do you deal with it? Is this you?
Or maybe you are the one who needs the phone like a sixth finger always attached to you, a non-judgmental escape when people and things around you don’t engage or interest, maybe they even upset or disturb. Or you started seeing one reel for a break and found yourself in an infinite loop of a dopamine rush. It seems that in this ever-changing world, with families that are pressured for time, can't meet each other's emotional needs, the phone algorithm keeps feeding you what you want to see more of.
The first thing we see when we get up is our phone and it is the last thing we see before we go to bed. This is the norm for today. If you don’t respond to a text within minutes or an hour, your friends, colleagues and family are complaining that you are leaving them on “read”!!!
And yet this wonderful tool called the phone that brings the world to our finger tips is also the driver for depression, anxiety, lack of sleep, lack of concentration, a feeling of disconnection.
Teenagers, adults, professionals and homemakers are constantly scrolling and it is nothing short of an addiction.
It isn’t without reason that the inventors of these technologies keep their children miles away from the same products they propagate and sell. It is because they are fully aware of the addictive properties of devices. However, for the masses, we don’t seem to have an option but to cling to technology for life. The irony, paradox and exploitation inherent in the situation is disturbing.
ASSESS YOUR SCREEN TIME
So, how do you know if your screen time is very high? Try the following questions to do a self-assessment.
Ask yourself how many hours you spend on the following activities per week:
- With friends without the screen or any device
- With family without the screen or any device
- At school without any device
- Exercise / Sports without the screen
- Eating / cooking without any device
- Reading / writing / journaling screen free
- Rest and relaxation screen free
- Nature walk / time outdoors screen free
- Screen time for school / office work
- Screen time for fun with friends
- Social media time on your own
If you haven’t taken a slip of paper to note down how much time you spend on each of these activities, do that now. Try to do it on a sheet of paper rather than a spreadsheet or app. You just need an estimate.
You have 168 hours in a week. How do you want to spend it? This is your data for you to get a good idea of how you are spending your most precious TIME!
Are you one of those people who basically lives on their phone apart from sleeping and personal hygiene? Well, this is a clear addiction and it comes with a host of problems.
Anxiety, depression, social isolation a sense of disconnection with the world and self are all fallouts of excessive device usage. The dopamine hit that you get by using the screen is not real and the challenges that you are likely to face in real relationships are plenty.
As the technology we use advances, our human needs are neglected. You need fresh air, real food, real friends, time in nature, sleep, rest, laughter, walks, fulfilling work, eye contact, attentive care-giving and receiving to function well as a human. Technology has diluted all of these aspects making us demand more from ourselves to the point of exhaustion.
It takes awareness to know if you need a digital detox. We gave you some tips to know your level of screen dependency. The point is to get an idea of how much of your real life is wasted in reels and screens.
Next, you need to choose if you need and want to change your digital engagement levels. If you are happy with your level of screen time, that’s a choice you make. But if the data has alarmed you, you need to consider a digital detox.
It takes will and sincere intent to unplug. You need to set a few boundaries that align with your work and lifestyle.
5 Tips for Digital Detox:
- Start your day with a digital detox. Journal, write, exercise
- End your day with a book or writing some reflections for the day on a paper journal. Don’t end your day with a device.
- Specify times during the day you will check your phone, email etc. Ask people to call you for any urgent work.
- Alternatively specify at least 2-3 hours (accumulated) over a day when you don’t use your device. Put your device away mindfully so you are not texting and scrolling in your free time. This is more practical for roles that revolve around media and technology, and your device is like your additional brain.
- Find a digital detox partner if you like company in your journey, however, keep checking if you are helping your partner in the detox and vice versa. Assess and correct.
Your habit to engage in devices may have started early in childhood. Maybe you come from a home where there was/is a lot of tension. And your only escape is the cyber space. In such cases, engaging in digital detox is more cumbersome. However, the addiction can take you further away from solving your life’s challenges. Till yesterday, you could have blamed others for your stress, but as your addiction peaks, you will become the problem. This is an intergenerational cycle that needs to be curbed.
Find other ways to de-stress. Nature, art, a walk, journaling, cooking, dancing can be very therapeutic. If you find yourself unable to detox, do seek help from a psychologist. If you choose to talk to a friend, choose your friend with wisdom and care.
Truly, this is the pandemic that has impacted a large majority of people in the world. And yet, the will to act and curb this malaise is feeble at best. You dont need a vaccine here, but you do need awareness and will.
You may be holding your gadget, but it is the gadget that holds you!
If that’s true for you, get cracking and develop your will to overcome.
And as you keep your gadgets away, you will find yourself learning and growing differently. Here is a video in which Dr. Kanika shares her insights on Learning to Learn. An essential skill in today changing times. Learning to Learn Slow down and absorb all life offers you.
And if you want to learn how stay focussed in this distracted world, here is a blog that shares valuable tips too. Why are you so distracted? 5 Questions to Reflect & Focus | LifeVidya
