When Was The Last Time You Did A Digital Detox?

Unplug from the screens, and plug into yourself with a digital detox … 

Depending on the source, studies say American adults spend between 7 and 11 hours a day staring at screens. That’s a LOT of screen time!

You may think you spend less time than this, but if you were to sit down and really think about the time you spend watching TV, working on your computer, and scrolling away on your phone, you may be shocked at how much time you are interacting with screens. I know I was!

7-11 hours a day?!? This much screen time is not good for any aspect of our health. 

Too much screen time has many negative effects on our bodies, and has been attributed to eye strain, sleep issues, poor posture, neck pain. The list goes on and on. Excessive screen time is also hurting our relationships. Our eyes are glued to the various screens in our house so much, we’re often guilty of ignoring the human beings who are actually in our presence! Just look around  you when you’re out and about … at a restaurant or anywhere people congregate. You’ll see what I mean.

Plus, when we spend hours upon hours on social media, we can start feeling crummy about ourselves when we’re seeing images of these “perfect” lives our friends appear to be leading. Not to mention all of the negativity and anger and hostility on social media these days. It’s simply not a great place to keep our focus.

A digital detox might sound like a terribly hard thing for you to do, which is likely a sign you need one.Click to Tweet

As professionals today, we really have no choice but to spend most of our days in front of computer screens. And as business owners, many of us tend to continue working throughout our waking hours, checking email, social media feeds, texts and whatever else we can find. We check our phones before we go to bed, when we get up, and many points in between.

It can all start to feel quite overwhelming.  And at times, if you’re like me, you might find yourself wishing you could just unplug for a little while, so you can focus on the things actually going on around you.

So, why don’t you? Why don’t you take a break and go offline? Switch off ALL your devices and enjoy real life for a change. You’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever gone on vacation … I mean REALLY gone on vacation. An offline vacation. One where you put all things business and computer aside while you’re gone. Let’s take this a little farther though, and go completely offline. No computer, no cell phone, no social media, nothing.

This is what is known as a digital detox, and I think we would all be better served doing this occasionally … if not on a regular basis.

I’m not suggesting you to give up your digital devices altogether, I’m just suggesting you commit to a 24-hour period with no screen time. No computers, no phones, no tablets, no television. Just time for reading, coming up with wonderful new ideas, spending time with people you love, and hearing yourself think.

I can almost hear you protest! “But, I have a business to run! I can’t just unplug!” Here’s the thing, though. Even if you don’t have a team in place to keep an eye on your business while you’re offline, surely you have a 24-hour window available that will allow you to go off the grid without the world coming to a crashing halt. Trust me, as much as you would like to believe the opposite; there is absolutely nothing you do that will cause the world to shift off its axis if you stop doing it for 24 hours. There just isn’t! Let people know ahead of time if you’re really concerned you’ll miss something. Oh, and there is this thing you may have heard of, called a telephone. Suggest people call you in case something urgent arises.

A digital detox might sound like a terribly hard thing for you to do; which is likely a sign you need one. And, who knows? Maybe some time off-screen will make you remember some parts of your life you’ve been missing.

So, I’m curious … have you ever done a digital detox? And do you think you’ll give it a try? If you do, leave a comment and let me know how it went!