The problem with our smartphones
Reaching for the smartphone has become normal for a large part of today’s society. Most of us know it: you sit somewhere, be it with or without a job, and you take your smartphone out of your pocket as a matter of course, just to browse through social networks or check the news. The urge to do so is subconscious. You don’t actually feel any kind of irrepressible need to have to pick up the smartphone now and the action is carried out more automatically. However, what you sometimes get is a weird feeling when you don’t. We are only too happy to take refuge with our eyes on our smartphones, especially when we are alone in an unfamiliar environment. Many people only realize that the smartphone, as a constant companion, is gradually pulling us into a kind of dependency or addiction when they realize for themselves that using the smartphone is no longer doing them any good. Although you actually have to do something or intend to do something, you get stuck in social media and get distracted by your cell phone. It even goes so far that you get a headache and your posture is affected. We have to look at our smartphones again and again, because someone could have posted or written something new, so that we lose a lot of time from our everyday life for other, useful things.
Digital Detox helps to get away from the smartphone and digital media
To escape this negative influence of digital media, there is Digital Detox. It is, as the name suggests, a “digital detox”. In the narrower sense, it is usually transferred to the smartphone. But the facts explained above can also be transferred to computers, laptops, televisions or game consoles, so that in a broader sense all digital media fall under a digital detox. Detoxification is not about getting rid of devices, apps and services completely, which is no longer possible these days, but rather reducing their use or consumption to a healthy level. The digital media certainly have their very positive characteristics. They are fun, maintain social contacts and provide us with information. However, the negative characteristics associated with excessive use and dependence should be minimized. The goal is to become more productive, more relaxed, more organized and ultimately happier.
Digital detox is all about planning and attitude
Digital detox is a bit like quitting smoking – which underscores just how addicted we can become to smartphones and digital media. Two things are essential for successful detoxification: the right attitude and good planning. Since a short break does not bring the desired effect, a digital detox should be carried out over the long term, ideally forever. Here again, as with smoking, it comes down to the real will to severely limit your social media consumption and to strictly follow through with it. In order to have a target that you can then stick to with your iron will, you need a proper plan. This says, depending on personal needs, when, where and for how long you can use which social media. The goals can also be made a little looser at the beginning and become stricter over time. After all, anyone who wants to reduce their consumption to zero overnight has little chance of success. You should ask yourself the following things: “How do I stay in touch with my friends despite a digital detox and how much social media do I need to maintain my social contacts?”, “How little time on social media can I stand without to become unhappy?”, “And what do I do with the time gained?”. Once you have answered these questions, it is time to plan your everyday life. One should set specific times and places where the consumption of digital media is allowed and not allowed. Two hours after getting up and two hours before going to bed, for example, the use of the smartphone can be prohibited in order to be able to start and end the day well. Locations can also be determined where the smartphone must remain in the pocket. Examples of this are the bedroom, at dinner (with friends), at work or on the train.
The world can be so beautiful without a smartphone
In addition to having a good plan, it is important to break away from your smartphone or digital media and to find alternatives. What helps to get away from the smartphone is to uninstall apps that you no longer want to use anyway and to turn off many notifications. In this way you are no longer constantly informed about things that are actually not so relevant and over time you can free yourself from their dependency. Even if it sounds a bit paradoxical, special digital detox apps are also very helpful. These support you in achieving the goals you have set yourself and, for example, block some apps at certain times or after a certain period of use. Otherwise, the digital detox is about using and enjoying the time you have gained. Once you have gotten rid of the digital time wasters, you can focus on hobbies, sports, healthy eating, community activities, further training or analogue alternatives to the digital offers. A real book can be read instead of on the tablet. The same applies to magazines. In addition, you may now be able to do what you have always wanted to do, such as doing another sport, learning another language or simply going hiking in nature and enjoying the surroundings. You can have fun even without a smartphone and digital media – and above all without these things you have more time that you can use sensibly.
Nicolas Flohr / Editor finanzen.net
Image sources: Farknot Architect / Shutterstock.com, marekuliasz / Shutterstock.com