We begin with it, we sleep with it and we carry it for the times in between. Our digital connections don’t spare us even for our nature calls, and it is certainly ruining our health and wellness. We bring some easy ways to digital detox for health and wellness to enable thinking outside the box and outside the smartphone’ parameters. Our lives are so embedded with a 5” gadget that advancements of making it an all-in-one device are spearheading towards gazillion new discoveries. The digital paradox of technology spurns technology and technology mothers technology only to ruin it further is true to its fullest.
There is a worldwide movement of “digital detox” to resist the information overload coming along with the digital devices. There is a prolific epidemic called the Internet Addiction Disorder, which is rooting deeper into our days and strengthening it hold in our lives. An upheaval into our health and fitness routine, also causing anxiety and stress to shoot up alarmingly high. Trolls, hate posts and body shaming are just a few examples on how depressing some of these platforms are. But still, they are fetched more often than we speak with our own partner.
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Some facts on how digital is our present life:
1- Some researches suggest we check our smart phones almost 200 times a day, which is like way too much. Of the realistic 16 hours we are awake, we are checking it 200 times. Around 12.5 times every hour, so that comes down to more than once every 5 minutes. So what about the cognitive self, how do we get focus, concentration, memory, attention, retention, learning and perception when every 301st second of our life is jammed with smart-phones.
2- Around 80% teenagers and young adults prefer texting over talking: So that means our 15-30 age group must definitely see more of rheumatologists. Heard of texting thumb syndrome or de quervain’s tenosynovitis a disease of thumb and wrist. Most of us suffer with the damaging effects already, and there’s no long term cure for this deformity yet.
3- An average smartphone user sends 3500 texts from their bed: So this is more of damage to the meagre 8 hours of sleep a day. Digital Insomnia is even more prevalent than the medical insomnia. We are damaging our muscles of hands, over straining our eyes and disrupting sleep patterns. Hail stress, hail anxiety and hail depression for digital age is here and will stay, until we resolve to free our minds.
Sharing some easy ways to digital detox for health and wellness:
Digital media and us, we share a symbiotic relationship, we thrive for each other and constantly upgrade to further advancements. We must grow with the advancements in digital world, but really it isn’t that enriching. It is just a little handy and sophisticated to carry. But all the functions are what the real devices carry, specific to their origins. Let us try and incorporate a little digital detox in our lives.
Digital detox is actually staying away from digital media for a fixed amount of time. It is almost partial digital abstinence. Don’t let your need become your greed for digitization. Follow some of the below and shed the digital toxins off your body.
1- Buy a camera:
This is where the cell-phone transgression to a smart-phone began from. Why cant we utilize our camera to the cause it is actually seasoned for. Its easier to grab a cell phone, but trust me, most of the memories you make from the cell phone are either too blur or never makes it to an album print. They stay with the device or memory card and vanish with the newer device or memory card.
2- Get a fitness trackers:
An app or a smart-watch is not the solution for tracking fitness accomplishments. Buy a fitness tracker which only tracks your fitness and does not give any digital indulgence.
3- Buy an alarm clock:
Why grabbing the smart phone when vintage alarm clock is more suitable for the task. And its easier to keep it that way, just avoid early morning huddle with alarms, for you wont stop at snooze or dismiss, but ruffle through your profiles and text updates. And on a lighter note, even before you open both your eyes and see, if last night’s apocalypse gulped your partner from the other side of the bed, you are already half way through the last nights digital updates.
Also buy a GPS, it works efficient and its definitely handy
4- Stacking routine:
We as a family, follow this stacking routine. Our meal times together begin with all smart-phones, tablets and other digital media resting at peace, for sometime, by stacking them up at a place which is away from visual paradigms. And it’s the little ones agenda for prior to meals, a quick grab of mommy and daddy’s devices with the chantings of our philosophical parenting times,”no phones when we eat”
5- Make your bedroom digital-free:
Allow for some normalization time for this very difficult sacrifice to materialize. For human bodies have now evolved with digital media reflexes, which are involuntary. Our bodies are timed so radically, even in deepest sleep, to grab the cell phone and check the texts. Of course in sleep, so we now have a more hilarious sleep disorder of sleep-exting Or sleep texting, that is texting while sleeping.
6- Talk more:
Avoid texting and call up rather or better meet in person. This will not only be enriching, but also a socially viable call. We must stop sending texts for wishing birthdays and anniversaries, also for exchanging greetings on festivals. A mass load of forward from whatsapp or hangouts looks like a time saving preposition but spare some close people. Though they may also believe in saving time. But remember change is inevitable and it begins from within us and branches out around. And didn’t Gandhi say, “Be the change you wish to see”
7- Disable push notifications:
Sometime we maybe on our digital detox and suddenly theres a pop up, that critical text or email notification makes the detox go for a toss. It is good to disable all notifications prior to proceeding. Our body and mind must be in tandem and acting wise for our detox digital diet.
8- Drive with your cell phone on back seat in silent mode:
This is not just for the detox regime, but even so for more grave causes. Distraction while driving can cause us our life or other innocent life on road. Smartphones are known to cause 70% of accidents and over 20% accidental deaths. On a lighter note, we need to live to see what is left for being discovered in this digital age.
9- Digital age to the rescue: BUY TECHNOLOGY TO BEAT TECHNOLOGY:
We have photo editing apps, alarm and office organizing apps, fitness tracker apps, calorie intake app, baby monitoring app and infact an app for everything our life needs or is made to need. Let us add some more apps, and make our digital detox revolution, a factual and controlled regime. Several apps can register your actual times away from your Digital devices. download them and set a target for the day. Swiftly rise ahead with the daily time-off from these devices.
10- Go on a Digital-detox-wanderlust:
This probably would be the toughest and if you conquer this for a 5-7 day time, it will be your reign over digital media. As passionate as it sounds, i have some real life situations and experiences to add further. Me and my husband planned our first holiday as a couple to a place with no network, no television and no connection outside in any form. I can vouch for the amazing connect and a wonderful time you can experience without having to romanticize with your digital parasite.
While FOMO enters the oxford dictionary, but don’t let the fear of missing out on the digital updates, make your personal and professional life missing from your attention spectrum. Drive away your digital media induced fears, and enable health and wellness in your lives. Take an oath and begin one at a time. We are sure you don’t wish to join the internet rehab programs. For these internet rehab programs are not rib-ticklers anymore, large number of psychologists and medical professionals are bringing forth these systematic and therapeutic programs to assist internet addicted youth.
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The above compilation on “Easy ways to Digital Detox for Health and Wellness” is based on readings and experiences of digital media in my own life. As current as it sounds, but my 3.5 years of digital abstinence from autumn of 2011 until the winter of 2015 are the most cherished years for my life. That was the time when I built upon my hobbies and interests, read and re-read some treasured non-fictional works, travelled almost every 6-8 weeks and most important spend real-quality time with my family. I have captured all the first “FIRSTS” of my daughter both in a real digital camera and in my mind, i have been on-time with my precious little alarm clock from my school years, and as I write here, i wish, i could take the same 3.5 year hiatus from present Digital Confinement to enjoy for even more lasting-impacting memories.
Minu Manisha
