What I Learned From My 30-Day Digital Detox
Hey folx!
My digital detox is over! This week, I’m sharing what I learned over this past month. Here’s a brief recap:
I don’t need social media to maintain relationships or do business. Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out what value social media provides me.
It takes more than 30 days to change a habit. Thirty days is just the beginning. I felt apprehensive about returning to social media in particular, which lets me know there’s still work to be done. Also read this article from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, https://jamesclear.com/new-habit.
I truly understand boredom now. I was never really bored before because I used my phone or Netflix or YouTube to fill my downtime.
I still need to learn to sit with my emotions. This is a work in progress, but I learned to give myself more space to be still.
Netflix is the culprit. Social media was easy to walk away from, but video allows me to put my brain on auto-pilot from the highly intellectual tasks I perform for work. Not even a book allows my brain to completely relax.
It’s important to have a good book with you at all times. Don’t leave home for an extended period of time without a diversion from your phone. I learned my lesson.
I got some good sleep this past month. I believe the electromagnetic wavelengths coming from the laptop may be different from the cell phone. I spend several hours a day on my laptop, but my sleep did not suffer they way it does when I spend a lot of time on my phone.
I also share my new rules for re-incorporating these technologies back into my life.
Designate one day per week for social media. I tried this last Friday and I felt overwhelmed, so I may need to designate 30-60 minutes, 2-3 days throughout the week to handle my tasks.
Only watch streaming services on the weekends. This one will be challenging because of #5 above.
Contact people via phone as often as possible, text or email them where appropriate, and of course in-person contact is the best. I am limiting messaging through social media. It’s important to have more meaningful interactions with folx.
To hear more about what I learned, watch the video below. The detox may be over, but the challenge continues. As I stated at the beginning, I still haven’t determined what value social media fills, so I may need to consider stepping away from it more long-term.
