5-step Guide- Digital Detoxification for Self Improvement

 DIGITAL DETOXIFICATION for self-improvement. A way to find peace of mind and happiness, the easiest way to find peace and energy- 

Toxic, the term refers to something causing unpleasant feelings; harmful or malicious, in simpler terms a poison. So how does the topic of digital detoxification justify itself? I request you to read till the end to derive a better conclusion.

We are the most comfortable generation in terms of the amenities we have. We miss someone just a call apart, want to eat something just a click away. But are we the most joyful or satisfied generation yet. Or in other words, we are the most stressed generation. The stress is not coming from the reason that we have everything but from the fact that our expectation from life has changed. Our perspective about life has changed.

Our activities are drawn not by our ends but by trends. We click images to keep the memories intact but how many times do we see those pics again. The worst scenario is when people are sitting together but are engaged in phones, they are the same people who feel lonely and later blamed that society has changed. A funnier fact is people click and share their daily routines, regular food following celebrity trends. The harmful effect of all this comes when people start comparing.

At some time we also develop a habit of checking our phones, media accounts, or just read some news. Some people derive a feeling that reading news is enhancing knowledge but ask yourself again. Does it? Or the news we are reading are lots of events having no direct impact on our lives but just making us more arguing, scary of the society itself. As a new parent reading so much news about child abuse I am worried about my child as soon she is out of sight. Well, society everywhere is not rotten but the news we see leaves us worried and stressed, also unnecessarily suspicious. And there is a difference between being alert, conscious, and being suspicious. It is the same as being a positive and negative approach. The overflow of news is making people politically oriented.

The Bluelight from our devices hinders our sleep pattern. It is recommended for good sleep to not use digital devices 2 hours before sleep. Read more

Story continues…..

Some parents complain that kids have developed the habit of mobile and TV but the truth is Kids Do what Kids See.

The worst usage of cell phones the new generation has derived is to keep the kids engaged. The justification for this is given as videos being the learning tool. As per WHO the screen time, such as watching TV or videos, playing computer games is not recommended at all for kids less than 2 years. For full report read. In the long term, it kills a kid’s creativity and is a major reason for psychological difficulties irrespective of how active children are. 

Am I suggesting stop using social media or the internet? No!

Before writing this article, I practiced a week of total Digital Detoxification. To see that even is it feasible to live in today’s time without the “internet” and what are the difficulties, what is the level of difficulty. Let me give a brief about how my lifestyle is, so you can relate to it and don’t feel that I am going all impractical.

I am a regular employee of a respectable company, deal with payments so I get regular calls from various vendors and concerned people. I have this site to manage, and for its social media, I manage two Instagram accounts and a Facebook page. As a new mom, I keep checking the net for advice on my baby health and day-to-day activities. I invest in the share market so need to keep a check on market news.

This exercise spread over a week just helped me to get rid of the habit of continuous unnecessary scrolling, the inflow of undesired information, and above all saving of money in tempt shopping. The best part was just sitting and chilling with peace because of what’s happening out there, because mostly that doesn’t affect me. My mental health improved and so did my concentration in work and speed.

5 step guide of digital detoxification

“All change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end.”

― Robin S. Sharma, The 5 AM Club

Let’s go step by step and for ease of implication and long-term change we have to apply one step in a day. 

DAY 1 STEP 1: Check the past usage details, screen time. Analyze different apps and usage patterns and make a realistic target of reducing your usage. Don’t bring major reductions at once. It is just like dieting, we have to be balanced. There is always some scope of reduction so you can review this activity fortnightly.

DAY 2 STEP2: Review installed apps, Uninstall the ones not used for the last 3 months. Put off notification of all shopping apps. Put off notification of as many apps as you can. Be strong! You are doing great. Review same in 2-3 months.

DAY 3 STEP 3: Set a place where you use mobile at home, make sure that is not the bedroom, dining table. This will give you a psychological push to not use digital products while with family. 

Also, set a time alert on Instagram and other social media apps so you receive a notification when you have spent too much time.

DAY 4 STEP 4: Plan a day activity that will keep you busy for the day so that you don’t feel the urge to use mobile often. Examples are inviting friends and family for lunch or dinner and cooking for them, going to a full-day picnic. An activity on a weekend that will allow you to be physically and mentally active in the real physical world.

DAY 5 STEP 5: You have 2 tasks today. 

1 Big task plan your daily routine, morning routine, evening routine, and bedtime routine. How daily routine will help in digital detoxification? Because when we have decided and after a period tuned to that routine then our mind automatically pushes us to task rather than procrastination.

1 Small task keep changing the location of your apps on the phone. Funny? Isn’t it. And you must be feeling rather useless, but trust me. By doing this your mind will be not automatically going to the same place again and again. This is simply breaking a subconscious habit. You need to repeat this task every fortnightly.

Last few words…..

To conclude this I would strongly recommend practicing total digital detoxification for just 3 days minimum. Also, I would suggest reading Life’s Amazing Secrets by Gaur Gopal Das as it is very relatable in the current scenario. Also Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy by Sadhguru is a book for a further deep outlook on life. I continued my reading habit with The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (yes! have not read yet). Make a routine that best suits you and you will be able to carry on in the future.

Spend a week, day, or afternoon, whatever you can handle without any technology, and live in the real world. Listen to the chirping of birds instead of streaming. See the open sky and trees swaddling instead of scrolling, go to meet a friend or family instead of liking their pics. When you get back to your phone and PC world you will notice that the world didn’t stop or changed because you turned it off for a while. There is probably nothing to stress about.

Be peaceful, be happy.

“If all your energies are focused in one direction, enlightenment is not far away. After all, what you are seeking is already within you.” — Sadhguru