More and more people swear by a regular digital detox. BRIGITTE explains what’s behind it – and has the best tips to make it work.
Not only because of the corona pandemic, our noses stick to all kinds of screens every day. It doesn’t matter whether we are checking Instagram for the fifth time, just googling something on the tablet or spending our everyday work in digital conferences – we are almost always available, always online, always there.
Even though we know how unhealthy it is to have too much screen time. What began as a classic New Year’s resolution for many has become more and more socially acceptable: We are talking about digital detox – the apparent secret weapon against the digital Fear of missing out (FOMO), the fear of missing out.
What does Digital Detox stand for?
Digital Detox comes from English and translates as nothing else than digital fasting or digital detox. Detox is about cleansing the body of pollutants. Usually the term is related to unhealthy diet or harmful environmental influences. With digital detox, you consciously refrain from using digital devices – either partially or completely. Usually, this refers to time-limited and deliberate time-out from smartphones, laptops and the like.
Why is it worth doing without the cell phone for a while?
In times of constant availability, we expect a quick response from our counterpart when we send a WhatsApp message, we hope for more likes on Instagram and suffer quickly from FOMO. All of these factors can cause us to feel at ease permanent stressful state because we seem to be energized all the time.
That can even go as far as that digital stress a digital burn-out will – and this can mean serious damage to our health. “The long-term consequences of technical development and our vehement use can only be guessed at at the moment,” says Alexander Markowetz, computer science professor at the University of Bonn. But it cannot be denied that “there are already clear consequences for our health. And they are enormous.”
What are the benefits of digital detox?
The digital stress that can arise from the constant availability and excessive consumption of digital devices can be reduced through conscious detoxification. Taking a break from the constant ringing of our cell phone can be difficult at first. Thoughts like “What if someone wants to contact me?” or “I could miss something important” gnaw at us – and remind us once more how dependent we are on our smartphones and laptops.
Digital detox is not about isolating yourself from the outside world, but rather about you more conscious consumption. With his team at the University of Bonn, Alexander Markowetz evaluated data from over 60,000 test subjects and found that we use our cell phones an average of 53 times a day. Every 18 minutes we send messages or e-mails, surf the Internet or play games. This means that on average we are only busy with our smartphone for two and a half to three hours a day!
With the help of a consciously used digital detox, we can make our own Reflect on media consumption and even change it in a meaningful way in the long term – how and to what extent this can happen, everyone should decide for themselves. A digital detox not only means rest time for our cell phone battery, but also a conscious break for our eyes and our mind. In this way, we not only protect our body, but also give our thoughts a break, can work more concentrated and focused and do not constantly interrupt our day for a new round Candy Crush.
How can I detoxify digitally?
The same applies to the Digital Detox, similar to other fasting programs: First, get an overview of yours It’s on. With the help of apps or pre-installed programs (for example the screen time on iPhones) you can monitor exactly how much time you spend on your smartphone or laptop every day – and with which apps. In some cases, such apps can even measure how often you look at your mobile phone every day and how many digital notifications you receive. Before you limit yourself indiscriminately, it is worthwhile, as mentioned above, to first get an overview of your consumption. Because that’s the only way you can do yours Usage behavior understand and start directly at certain points. It can also help if you ask yourself the following questions in preparation for your digital detox:
- Which digital devices do I even use in the course of a day or a week?
- How much time do I spend on my mobile phone, laptop, tablet, …?
- Which apps do I really need, for example to communicate with my family?
- Which apps have I not used in a long time?
- What would I really like to do away from my smartphone in the time I have gained?
Tips for digital detox
When you have become aware of your consumption, you can start with the digital detox! We have collected the best tips and ideas for you:
- Set limits: Determine for yourself how much time you want to spend with which device per day / week. With digital detox, the focus is not simply on doing without, a realistic assessment is important here.
- Put the cell phone out of sight: Out of sight, out of mind – this also applies to digital detox times. If your smartphone is constantly in your field of vision, even though you actually wanted to do without it, the temptation is great to reach for it again. On the other hand, if it’s in a drawer or another room, you won’t be distracted by it. And at the next meeting with your friends, you will also notice: You can enjoy the time together much more if you are not constantly distracted by your mobile phone.
- Change habits gradually: A radical break in your previous habits will probably not be very successful. With digital detox, too, it makes more sense to proceed in small steps. For example, you can set up a period of time twice a day in which you can use social media. You can then gradually reduce this time – until you may no longer need it.
- Smartphone-free places: If fixed times for your free time are too inflexible for you, you can also declare certain places to be digital detox zones. There the digital devices are simply no longer used. This can be in your bedroom or dining room, for example, or while taking the subway.
- Teamwork: It is easy to lie to yourself and to become less precise in self-imposed behavior. If you start your digital detox with someone else or tell a lot about it, it won’t be so easy to give up again.
- Turn off push notifications: The number of push notifications is often related to the number of times you look at your mobile phone. If you turn off unnecessary notifications (or delete the apps altogether), there are fewer digital distractions.
- Discover alternatives: For many of us, the smartphone is the savior in every situation: It functions as a navigation system, alarm clock, reminder or radio. You can often do without it: You can let an analog alarm clock wake you up, stick little post-its on the mirror to remind you or read a good book if you are bored. Providing you with alternatives to digital devices will help you carry out your digital detox successfully.
- Consciously take your time with your devices – and consciously time without them. Everything you have to do on your mobile phone or laptop can be done in one go. So you have fewer interruptions within your day because everything is processed at once.
Why is it so difficult for us to digital detox?
Especially during the corona pandemic, we used our digital devices more than before: We suddenly met our friends via video chat, sent our grandma’s photos to their smartphones and held meetings digitally from home. A study carried out by the digital association bitkom was commissioned, shows that in 2020 not only fewer people tried a digital detox, but also more people abandoned their attempt: Of around 1,000 participants: 28 percent ended their digital detox prematurely. 40 percent of the respondents excluded from even attempting digital detoxification from the outset. But why is that?
Leonard Reinecke, Professor for Media Effects and Psychology at the University of Mainz, explains: “It’s a lot about routine here. […] then it becomes problematic. “He is addressing situations in which we looking at the cell phone out of reflex: For example, when we are waiting for the next train or when our interlocutor: he goes to the toilet. Sean Parker, who worked as a consultant for the Facebook group for years, is even clearer: He reports – frighteningly honest: “The motivation behind the development of the earlier applications – and Facebook was the first – was: How can we spend so much time and Get user attention as possible “?
Putting the smartphone away for a while is therefore also a regain of personal freedom.
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