Do you read emails even when you are in meetings? Do you often stroll? Is the cellphone both the first thing you see when you wake up and the last thing you see before you fall asleep? Many things you do without even being aware of it, but some screen behaviors you may still have identified as negative and would like a healthier attitude?
More and more people are realizing the value of reducing digital stress and taking a digital detox. Often people say that it can take up to three weeks before you start to see clear results from a new habit, so why not start today? Here are 5 smart tips.
1. Focus on one thing at a time
How often are you on your e-mail or on LinkedIn while you are in a meeting? It is often the hateful feeling of not being present somewhere that makes you stress. Turning off the email when you need to work concentrating on your computer or turning off the sounds, lights and notifications on your mobile are two effective approaches to not getting distracted.
2. Resist the temptation to use social media strenuously
Decide not to watch social media for hours on end. Do you have a job mobile, perhaps you should simply not install Instagram and Facebook? Or you can move the apps to a folder that you place “far away”. If your eyes do not see the symbols, it is more difficult to unconsciously click you there.
3. Release your mobile
Put your phone away before you go to bed and let it “take the morning off”. Keep it in your bag when you’re with friends. Leave it in the cupboard when you are in the gym. Try to wait for the elevator, the bus and stand in the cash lines without picking up the cellphone. Turn it off at meetings, lunches and breaks. Is that impossible? In any case, turn it upside down with the screen facing down.
4. Clean and delete
Delete the apps you don’t use, or by all means the apps you don’t want to use. Unsubscribe from any newsletters you never read, only those who really add some value remain. Are you a member of discussion groups on Messenger or WhatsApp with constant notifications – leave the group or turn notifications off.
5. Take ownership of your digital communications
Very few people need to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 52 weeks a year. Take back power over your digital communications, you don’t have to answer everything right away. Determine the times and places where you may not use the phone. Maybe it’s the lunch restaurant that should be a digital-free zone or the company’s weekly meetings?
