Human beings are naturally curious. Nosy, even. And for many of us, there is nothing that we are quite so inquisitive about as the lives of other people.
Social media has made it easier than ever for us to give in to this nosiness. With a few taps we can go onto someone’s profile and get an impression of what they have been up to. New information enables us to make new judgements, and we become invested in what we can deduce from the information online.
In particular, there is often an overwhelming temptation to online ‘stalk’ an ex. When you are in a relationship with someone, you have a connection. Regardless of the nature in which your relationship with them ended, you will be feeling the loss (whether good or bad) of this connection.
Online, however, you will still be ‘connected’. Keeping up with your ex online is an (albeit cheap and far from substantial) way to cling on to this connection.
Thus it prevents you from moving on. In this, it stems your personal development and growth beyond the relationship and blocks your path to learning how to live independently of your ex.
Sometimes we cling to a connection by maintaining one online.
It is also unhealthy for you because it allows you to constantly compare yourself to others. Perhaps you are looking at photos of their new partner, or comparing how well they seem to be coping with your own reality. Either way, this is a time and thought consuming habit which negatively impacts your self esteem.
A person’s social media profile – an often carefully curated collection of information and images – is far from an accurate depiction of their life. Looking at their page may make you feel like they are having fun and are happy all the time, whilst you yourself are struggling. This is almost certainly not the case. Social media cannot capture everything and people are only going to show off the good times. They are likely experiencing the same difficulties as you are.
Even if we do understand that social media is a carefully framed narrative and not an accurate diary, constantly checking to see what your ex up to is not a healthy habit. You need to learn to live without them, and so-called ‘stalking’ their profile weekly is not going to let you do that.
The vast quantity of information at our fingertips that social media gives us can have an almost addictive quality. When it allows us to hold onto something we have just lost, this addiction just becomes even worse. It is understandable why we would want to stalk an ex, but for our own health and happiness, we must avoid doing so.
So how can we avoid the temptation to? Of course, the best way to remove your ex from your feed is to unfollow them. However, if you and your ex want to remain friends, this is not the solution for you. Instead, hide their posts and stories from your feed, until you know that you will not be so affected by them.
Furthermore, spending time away from your phone would be no bad thing. Log off for a bit and spend time rediscovering hobbies and activities you enjoy, or being with friends. Give time back to yourself.
Most of us will be familiar with the feeling you get after having been sucked into a doom-scroll-hole of an evening and looked up to see that, even if you fell asleep that minute, you would still get much less sleep than you need. Unfortunately, this is not the only way that tech can cause insomnia. In lockdown, with many of us working from home and having greater flexibility with our schedules, sleeplessness has become an even greater issue.
As a nation, our screen time has increased on an unprecedented scale. We are now spending 40% of our days watching TV or on our phones. In Australia their phone use increased 80% in the first month of lockdown. Our sleep cycles are being messed with on a global scale and it has become harder than ever to get a good night’s rest. We are not only trying to push past digitally-induced sleep problems but also Covid-stress induced insomnia. Combined, that is a powerful force. We have some tips to help you improve your digital habits so that you can finally get your sleep cycle back on track and get some rest.
#1 Stick to a digital routine
For many of us, routine has been essential in lockdown in order to keep us sane. Due to our isolation, this has had to include a lot of Zoom, Teams, FaceTime and more just to keep up with semi-regular social interaction and work. So, as hard as it may be, we are recommending you institute a routine. Still call family and friends (perhaps try an audio call to rest your eyes) but enforce a bedtime for your phone (at least an hour before you go to bed), and aim to only log on after you have completed your morning routine. This way your sleep will be disconnected from your device- and hopefully, you can get some real rest. Ideally, you would also set yourself a bedtime and stick to it, the more practice you give your body at going to bed with the intent to sleep at 11 o’clock the likelier it is that you will be able to sleep then.
Bonus: why not leave your phone outside your bedroom? You could always buy an alarm clock to get rid of the excuse that you need it to wake up, and you will be amazed at the difference it makes to your sleep.
#2 Enjoy leisure offline
One of the problems we have already alluded to, is that in Corona-times our screens are used for everything- work, socialisation and leisure and that means that we are on them far too much. We recommend you try to find offline alternatives to screen-based leisure if you truly want to fight that digitally induced insomnia. Perhaps you could take up puzzling, journaling, crafting, reading, or simply get to know your bubble mates more (games and long chats are always a good route for that). This way even though you will not sacrifice your time with those you can’t see, and the work you need to do you will be able to cut down on screen time, especially in the evening as you ready for bed.
#3 Separate work and sleep spaces
This is one of the hardest tasks to implement when so many of us work from home, our bedrooms, sometimes even our beds. In lockdown it has become all too common that we will work in our bed, go on social media in our bed and call people from our bed too. Beds are no longer reserved for rest- no wonder we are struggling with insomnia! So whilst we would recommend keeping your work and technology away from the bed we understand that that is not always practical. Instead, we recommend sitting at the other end of the bed to work, sitting on the floor and leaning on the bed to call people or even creating a system of pillows to separate the head of the bed from the ‘work station’- whatever works for you. Just make sure that you are not letting yourself fall into the trap of lying under the covers replying to emails or doing one last social media check before you go to sleep- that will only make it harder!
#4 Reduce screen time
Previously we would have suggested that as long as you stopped using your phone an hour before bed and switched to night-mode earlier in the day you would be able to sleep with no problems. However, new research has shown that this is not the case: the best thing you can do to ensure you get better sleep at night is to reduce your screen time throughout the day. This is quite an arbitrary way to improve your sleep quality and so can be hard to stick to. The best way to measure it would be to keep an eye on your screen-time, to check out which apps are sucking most of your time and focus on them. If you spend an hour a day on Facebook you could delete it from your phone, so you have to log on on your laptop for example. Whichever apps you choose to target, try to measure your usage so that you can make a discernible difference to your daily total- your sleep-self will thank you for it!
Hopefully with these tips you will be able to reduce your insomnia and get back to the blissful days of good quality sleep you enjoyed pre-Covid. It is hard to build a new routine in lockdown, and especially one that relies on removing things from our lives instead of adding them but once you make this change, we promise, you will be infinitely grateful and able to sleep through with far fewer worries.
Logging off is often viewed as isolating. In an increasingly digital world, the idea of spending time away from our devices evokes anxiety in many of us. Whether on news, work or updates from friends, there is a general fear of missing out.
This is not an ungrounded concern. Tech has been the primary method of communicating and catching up with friends. On top of this, many of us have been unable to tear ourselves away from the news, and have taken to compulsively checking new updates and Covid figures.
Current events like the US election have only heightened this fear of missing out. The anxiety over the few days when the votes were being counted, not dissimilar to the anxiety in the hours leading up to a new Covid statement from No 10, made being away from our phones or televisions more difficult than ever.
We can feel like there is so much to miss out on because we live in a world that is constantly connected, and always awake. Even without 24 hour news reporting, there would always be new developments coming in from other side of the world because of time zones. A news desk in Silicon Valley is at full working capacity after the end of a typical British person’s working day.
But perhaps an ever-developing stream of news isn’t the worst thing to miss out on. Perhaps we are scared of missing out on the wrong things.
Whilst we spend so much time scrolling through social media, refreshing news webpages or glued to the TV, we are inevitably missing out on other aspects of our lives. We are missing out on spending time doing the activities we love, spending time with family and friends (if we can), and, in many cases, even missing out on sleep.
Missing out temporarily may be good for us.
Sleep is one of the most important things that we often miss out on.
Joy of missing out – JOMO – is the antithesis of FOMO. It describes the peace and happiness that come with neglecting the culture of being ‘switched on’ (or, in this case, logged on), every minute.
To have JOMO, you will have weighed up the pros and cons of neglecting whatever activity you have chosen to miss out on, and you will have recognised that to do so is helpful towards yourself.
JOMO often derives from setting aside social activity. Often, this can benefit our wellbeing and – especially in the case of social media – is encouraged. On the other hand, this is not about becoming a social recluse. It’s about embracing balance.
Think of the time you spend on social media, reading the news or watching TV – and how it effects you. You may recognise negative impacts. Perhaps you scroll through Instagram deep into the night and wake up groggy, or maybe a persistent stream of bad news leaves you feeling gloomy a bit too often.
Choose to miss out. Choose to not go on social media two to three hours before you go to bed. Choose to allocate yourself daily time to read the news. Then enjoy the time you spend not doing these things.
You can still join in on the things that you don’t want to miss out on. Connect with friends whilst being conscious of your tech usage, and enjoy taking a keen interest in world affairs. But know that, sometimes, ‘missing out’ is not really missing out at all.
Digital Detox and Digital Wellbeing-Inspired Christmas Gift Guide 2020
The best gift you can give any Christmas is the present of your presence. In previous years, we’ve encouraged you unplug from social media and all other digital distractions for the holidays to really connect with those you are present with. But, this year we know it just might not be possible. Zoom or FaceTime could be the only way to connect to grandparents, or far-flung siblings this year. So, all the more reason to log off when we can.
With this in mind, we’ve put together our annual Christmas digital detox gift guide with a difference. Each of our thoughtfully selected gifts will help you and your loved ones finally log off, after what feels like an entire year on screens. It will also help you to support small and independent retailers. This year they have been hit particularly hard so we wanted to give them some love this Christmas. (There are no Amazon links in here). We hope there’s something in our list which will inspire you, and those in your life, to put down your screens for a while this Christmas.
For Fun and Games
The Lost Words
If you’re lucky enough to be spending the holidays with friends and family, give a gift which can be enjoyed by everyone, offline. The Lost Words is a card game based on the Robert McFarlane book with illustrations from Jackie Morris. The game has an environmental focus, highlighting the danger of losing our knowledge of nature. It’s marketed at 8+ but includes strategic elements to keep adults engaged too- truly perfect for a family Christmas.
Master of Logic
A great game for younger children (6+), Master of Logic can be played by two, or in teams. The first player selects a four colour pattern, it’s up to the second player to guess the colours and sequence. It is even made from natural wood. With both of these games on hand you can probably put down your phone for hours this Christmas, you’ll be having too much fun!
For Connecting with Nature
Wildlife Trust Membership
If your friend or family member loves nature then this is the gift for them. By buying a gift membership for them you will be supporting the Wildlife Trust’s work for the natural landscape and animals. Not only that, but the recipient will be gifted wildlife magazines, guides and other benefits throughout the year. This includes a ticket to their local wildlife trust, and the opportunity to get involved in real work of conservation in the UK- the perfect way to integrate time offline into anyone’s life. You could also accompany them on their visit so that you can experience it together.
Sea Life TrustWhale Adoption
If you were watching ITV in the UK mid-October you might have caught the two-part series about the rescue and release of two beluga whales in Iceland. The Sea Life Trust rescued Little Grey and Little White from captivity in China where they had been for most of their lives working as performers. Through the course of this incredibly emotional programme they showed how these animals, who had lived most of their lives in captivity, might not be able to be fully released into the wild but could thrive in the wilder environment of the Westman Islands. Even if you weren’t watching, you may have heard of the story and been moved by it, we at Time To Log Off certainly were.
The Sea Life Trust needs funding in order rescue more of these creatures, so we suggest adopting a beluga for your loved one. With the adoption you get information about the whale, their journey and the life they leads at the Sanctuary. For someone who has everything, or who is notoriously difficult to buy for, this could be perfect.
For Mindfulness
Wentworth Puzzle
We’ve been singing the praises of Wentworth Puzzles all the way through lockdown. Quite frankly we think they’re the best puzzles out there, with unique designs, a wooden construction that holds its shape and will last the test of time, and quirkily shaped whimsy pieces. Anyone would be lucky to get a Wentworth Puzzle this Christmas, we would certainly appreciate one! Your recipient will spend hours totally absorbed in their puzzle, a great mindfulness exercise for someone who finds focus challenging. Our top pick from their Christmas range this year is this fiendishly tricky, and beautiful, Nanook of the North.
We are loving doing Nanook of the North in the run up to Christmas!
OFF. Your digital detox for a Better Life by Tanya Goodin
Our founder Tanya Goodin’s popular book, ‘OFF. Your Digital Detox for a Better Life’, is a compact stocking filler for those who can’t log off. We would especially recommend it for those who need a tiny hint – perhaps the parent who keeps checking their work email, or the partner who stays up late on their phone in bed…. Full of practical tips and ideas to help even the most stubbornly addicted take a break for the holiday season.
For Keeping Hands Busy
iFixit Kit
Sometimes a practical gift can be the way to go. So, we’d like to recommend an iFixit kit. We interviewed Kelsea Weber from iFixit, for our podcast and she talked to us about the huge environmental problem of electronic waste. Tech companies make it hard for us to be environmentally friendly, encouraging us to endlessly discard and upgrade our devices, instead of repairing them. iFixit offer free repair guidelines for all common devices from phones to washing machines and including repair kits for iPhones. One of these kits might be perfect for the loved one that cares about waste and likes to use their hands.
Stress Relief Bundle
The Department Store for the Mind is one of our favourite places to go for thoughtful gifts. Our top pick this year is the Stress Relief Bundle. It contains a deep-breath-bracelet, affirmative stickers, and a workbook to help with focusing amongst many more things. 2020 has been stressful for most of us, this could really hit the spot this holiday season.
For Keeping Cosy
Cashmere Scarf
Wrap someone you love up warm this season with this beautiful cashmere scarf (also comes in four other colours). Yes, it’s probably at the top end of your budget but for that very special person, this gorgeous gift is a going to be like giving them a big hug – which you may not be able to do in person this year – so worth it we think.
Knitted Beanie
This knitted beanie will keep someone’s head nice and snug when they venture outside way from their screens, which you’ll definitely encourage them to do when you give them this gift. This particular colour is very Christmassy we think, but there are other options too.
For Personal Growth
Royal School of Needlework Course
We’ve talked before about the benefits of sewing and needlecraft. Through knitting, darning, tailoring or embroidery you can pass many productive hours and create something tangible – the perfect way to log off. The Royal School of Needlework offers a huge range of different classes from one-offs to accredited courses so you can pick one which suits your budget and loved one. Who knows, next year you may find you’re the lucky recipient of something they make!
Digital Detox Course
This year we launched our own 6 week Digital Detox Course. If there’s someone in your life that needs it, this Christmas you could make their life a bit easier by helping them to work out how to limit their screen overuse. Hosted by our founder, internationally respected digital detox expert Tanya Goodin, the course gives you all the information, practical tips, support and practice you might need to revamp your digital habits (including a 2 week guided digital detox at the end!). We’ve got a special discount for you this Christmas! This could make a great start to 2021 for someone who wants to develop healthier habits in the New Year.
Whoever you’re buying for, make this Christmas more meaningful with our digital detox gift guide ideas. From the environmentally minded to children to those who need to switch off, we hope there’s something in here for everyone!
“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news”.
Since Douglas Adams wrote this over 40 years ago, bad news has just continued to travel even faster thanks to globalisation and the rise of modern mass media. The invention of the world wide web birthed real-time news reporting, and in turn the invention of social media has given this a platform and emphasis like never before. Bad news in the public sphere is travelling faster than ever.
Expressions similar to ‘bad news travels fast’ have been around since the 1500s. It is a truth that is key to our survival as the human race. Our brains are more highly attuned to bad news because this is what is going to have an impact on our survival. Bad past experiences and upcoming threats are both far further towards the front of our brain than positive news and experiences. We need them to be.
Therefore, our eagerness to share bad news so rapidly is no new or surprising pattern of human behaviour. It is just that technological advances in our civilisation have enabled extremely rapid sharing.
And this is not healthy for us. Excessive exposure to news can cause an information overload; where we are given so much information that it negatively affects our ability to digest and form rational opinions on the subject matter. We are left feeling anxious and stressed, whilst also powerless.
That isn’t to say that we should cut reading the news entirely out of our lives. On the contrary, to do this would be harmful in most cases. Having no political or social awareness is dangerous; plus, it could isolate and leave some feeling detached from society.
However, whilst reading the news is certainly beneficial, we should be able to set limits on the quantity of content we are exposed to, and spend time away from it. Being online makes this very difficult. Media sites competing to be the first to drop a story, or give new information, means that the world of reporting never sleeps, and our timelines are flooded with snippets of information, infographics and linked articles.
There is also a part of us that is fascinated by bad news, and despite the negative effect it has on our mood, we can become addicted to it. There is a danger of being sucked into bleak story after story, and losing chunks our day to what’s been dubbed doomscrolling.
Having news at our fingertips, just a Google away, often makes it tempting to check back frequently throughout the day.
How can we establish a healthy and balanced news intake?
#1 Set time away from your phone.
If there is a really important story breaking, you will likely hear about it from a friend. Training yourself to be without your phone will, over time, reduce the anxiety you may feel from not checking the news regularly. A digital detox could be the way to really learn to live without your phone.
Of course, we also want to spend time enjoying ourselves online, talking to friends or interacting with them on social media. But how can we ensure that this personal time is not invaded by bad news?
#2 Unfollow news pages on social media.
This gives you control over when you see news, and means you aren’t bombarded by it all the time that you are online. You can still use them as a news source by searching for them, and support them by liking their posts. Alternatively, you can hide their posts from your timeline/feed.
#3 Disable news app notifications.
It can be handy to have a news app on your phone, but not if it is invading your thoughts and time. You should also be wary of an algorithmic news feed. This is where an algorithm determines what stories you are shown, based on your previous views and other data on you and your habits. This means that you may not have a balanced news feed, or perhaps will only be shown the stories that are most likely to be clicked on, which are often bad news.
#4 Set time limits
Set a certain time for you to browse and read news stories, and stick to it. It is so tempting to constantly be checking in on and refreshing news pages throughout the day, but doing so is harmful for your productivity and headspace.
Take control and decide when you are going to interact with news. Therefore, if there are stories that you find upsetting, worrying or triggering, you know that you will be in the best possible frame of mind to receive them.
#5 Actively avoid breaking news
Usually, it is better to read stories a few hours after they have broken. By then, the reporting will be better informed, and likely fact-checked, a stark contrast with the often frantic and borderline sensationalist manner breaking stories are reported. Reading them later in in the news cycle will allow you to get a fuller picture of the story, which may be a less-anxiety inducing experience. View the original article at itstimetologoff.com
Nighttime used to be dark. Now, however, it’s lit up by electric lights, television screens and smartphones. Our bodies, and in particular our sleep cycles, are suffering as a result.
45% of people admit to checking their phone after they have gone to bed, wreaking havoc with their sleep schedule. However, even if you’re more regimented with yourself and don’t go on your phone in bed, your tech use in the hours leading up to the end of the day can also negatively impact your sleep.
The blue light emitted by screens is largely to blame. In fact, last year California declared October 10th to be an annual blue light awareness day, in efforts to address our absorption in our screens, and draw attention to the hazards of this.
Blue light alone isn’t bad. In fact, it stimulates the brain more than any other wavelength of light. However, it is this ability to boost our attention and alertness which makes it such a threat to our sleep schedules.
Our body has an internal clock. Made up of multiple individual 24 hour cycles (scientifically termed ‘circadian rhythms’), this is what coordinates our mental and physical systems in the body. For example, they tell our body when to produce digestive proteins according to when we typically eat.
Each of these rhythms contribute towards one central, principal, body-clock in the brain: the ‘circadian pacemaker’. Hence for us to function optimally, the individual circadian rhythms must be aligned.
However, the circadian pacemaker can be influenced by its external environment. For example, our sleep cycles are synchronised with daylight patterns: we know that darkness means it’s time to sleep.
Blue is a wavelength of light that belongs to daytime; blue light from the sun is what wakes us up in the mornings. Consequently, the blue light emitted from our screens tricks our brains into thinking its daytime. This heightens our alertness levels and makes us struggle to fall asleep, even if we are physically tired.
Messing with your sleep schedule has more adverse effects than just leaving you groggy. Harvard researchers linked diabetes and potentially obesity to shifting circadian rhythms. Furthermore, depression and cardiovascular problems have also been linked to not getting enough sleep, which can be brought on by over-exposure to blue light.
It is because of this that California held their second annual blue light awareness day earlier this month. The day encourages people to be more wary of the effects blue light can have on them, and to take measures to keep themselves healthy.
The best thing you can do for the sake of your sleep schedule is to avoid using electronic devices two, if not three, hours before you go to bed. This will allow sufficient time for your brain to wind down and to recognise that it is night time. Try to create a bedtime routine that doesn’t incorporate screens, and find ways to end the day other than watching TV or browsing social media.
If you really want to observe the effects of blue light on your sleep pattern, try a digital detox. Removing tech from your routine completely will show you just how much better you sleep without it, and encourage you to be more mindful of your use in the future.
There are filters you can get, and ‘night-shift’ mode, so that the blue light does not affect you so much, but it is a far more sustainable and healthy solution to address your screen use instead.
And ultimately, try to ensure that the majority of your blue light dosage is coming from actual daylight! Take a break from screens and get outside in the daytime. There is far more blue light in sunlight than emitted from our screens, so make the most of its energising and alertness-boosting properties in the daytime, and enjoy the dark at night.
It is estimated that 210 million people worldwide suffer from internet and social media addiction. This was only a 2017 estimate, before our world seemed to move online, as it has done this year. With so many of us trapped inside, unable to see friends in person and consequently resorting to social media out of boredom and a desire to connect, our usage patterns have indisputably gotten even unhealthier.
Social media addiction signs
Social media addiction is no easy thing to quantify, but there are some very clear signs – check off how many of these signs of social media addiction you are guilty of.
How many were applicable to you? If you recognised yourselves in any of these signs, don’t be alarmed. In fact, many of us will find ourselves exhibiting behaviour patterns and tendencies of someone addicted to social media, and all of these have a negative impact on our health and wellbeing.
So what can we do? Beating social media addiction is not something that can be done overnight; it requires a reevaluation of your digital-life balance, and this is something personal to you. However, whilst only you can figure this out, there are some steps you can take to reduce your use of and dependency on social media, and to help you take control back from the tiny tyrant that is the smartphone.
#1 Turn off notifications
It can be so difficult to detach yourself from social media when your phone lights up every minute with new notifications. So turn them off.
Notifications for when certain individuals have tweeted and so on are distracting enough, but so many people also get caught up watching their phone and counting ‘likes’. This is unhealthy and will only cause anxiety if you do this after making a post. After posting what you’d like to, I recommend leaving social media for a period of time so that you do not get rapped up by who is interacting with your post.
#2 Don’t have your phone by you whilst you sleep
It is not difficult to see how our phone’s wreak havoc with our sleep schedules. 45% of people choose to scroll through social media instead of sleep.
To combat this, place your phone on the other side of the room. If the phone is out of reach, we will be less tempted to check it. It is often an automatic reaction to reach for your phone and scroll through social media in bed. If you have to get out of bed to enable this, you will think about why you want your phone, and chances are that this will help you cut down on how much you use it at night.
#3 Remove your phone from your morning routine
Likewise, do not reach for your phone the moment you get out of bed. For a lot of us, the first thing we do in the morning is to check our phone. Avoid this! Not only does this exhibit an unhealthy dependency on our phones, the sudden huge quantity of content which will hit you as you scroll is too much for our tired mind to handle. This will overwhelm and distract us, and negatively impact our ability to focus for the day. Try not to touch it until you are at least settled into the day.
#4 Place less weight on your personal social media appearance
Easier said than done, I know. However, one of the big signs of social media addiction is that you spend a lot of time overthinking and over-planning your posts. This causes anxiety and stress. If you place less importance on how and what you post, you will be able to free up your mind from this stress.
#5 Opt for analogue alternatives
Fall back in love with your hobbies, or discover new ones. Set yourself time away from work and your phone to explore and enjoy non-screen based activities, such as arts and crafts, reading or exercising.
In giving yourself back time you would have spent scrolling, and dedicating it to yourself
#6 Digital detox
The best thing that you can do is learn to live without it. This doesn’t mean abandoning social media, it just means spending some time away from it completely. This is called a digital detox.
All of the tips mentioned above are steps towards a digital detox. However, the benefits of a total digital detox are unmatched by that of any other tip mentioned above. It is only when you remove social media from your daily routine that you realise how much more time you have for yourself in the day, and how much it frees up your mind.
Try out our digital detox course if you’re serious about finding ways to deal with your social media addiction, it will walk you through the steps and strategies to get a better balance.
This past September we launched our very first digital detox course! For years now we have been advocating the need to switch off from the online world and rebalance our digital habits. During lockdown, this was amplified around the world as we relied on tech so much and many more people recognised their need to log off. 3/4 of Americans, when asked during the lockdown anyway, said that they would take a digital detox after they got let out. If you are regularly entering a doom-scroll-hole, losing time due to digital distraction, anxious about switching off from work, unable to take a proper break or stressed about by comparison culture on social media, then you too need a digital detox.
We heard the call for help from far and wide and built this course to fill the void which previously our talks, retreats and in-person workshops would have. This way we can reach even more people and help those all over the world.
Knowing you need to change your digital habits and achieving that goal are very different things. Our course, with its clear structure culminating with a guided digital detox to suit your life, is the perfect way to make that step and ensure that you can stick with it.
Here are some of the things you will get out of the course, and the reasons you should take it instead of going it alone:
#1 Learn about the ways we are addicted
For the first four weeks of the course our founder and host of the course, Tanya Goodin, will teach you all the ways that tech companies ensnare us, and how that has impacted us. From using the psychology of slot machines in ‘pull to refresh’ to randomising rewards in many social media apps, Silicon Valley is full of clever people keeping us logged on (as Tanya wrote about in her review of the Social Dilemma on this topic). Armed with all this intel you will find it easier (though by no means easy!) to stop when you begin to lose time, notice the addictive quality of the tech, and switch off.
#2 Tips on how to rebalance your life
Nebulous ideas such as ‘switching my phone off more’ are incredibly difficult to stick to. Those resolutions are often gone within the hour, let alone the week. Our course on the other hand is full of practical hacks to help you interweave your digital decluttering into your daily routine, reaping only the benefits.
#3 Regain control
Phones are addictive. It’s not our fault that our lives are becoming more and more dictated by them, and that even though smartphones are barely a decade old we can no longer leave the house without one. This course will help you to take back that control you gave to your phone, and let you control your life and choices around tech and digital wellbeing for once.
#4 Connect with a community of like-minded people
There is a comments section attached to all of the content in the course and we encourage the students to get involved. You can ask questions, offer advice or generally discuss how things are going for you and meet a whole new community of people who want to log off too.
#5 Take a guided detox
At the end of the course, for the last two weeks, you will take a guided digital detox. This is supported by the members of the Time To Log Off team, as well as other students. Though those two weeks, you can use the information you have learnt and the practical tips you have picked up in a practice run in your real life. This way you can decide what works and what doesn’t, bounce ideas off other students and end the six week course with a clear idea of how digital wellbeing and logging off will best suit your individual lifestyle.
Mental health affects all of us. It is something that we all have, and that we all need to do our best to look after.
World Mental Health day, on Saturday 10th October, aims to raise awareness and show support for those who suffer from poor mental health. ¼ of people worldwide will have a mental health disorder in their lifetime, but every single one of us will suffer from poor mental health at some point.
Whilst often the way we feel is out of our control, it is important to check in on ourselves every now and then. Being able to work out what is wearing us down is an invaluable skill to have, because it allows us to address a source of our problems. Once identified, we can put in measures to better protect ourselves and our mental health.
One such area that often causes stress and discontent is our use of technology. We live in an increasingly digital world; over the past few months we have seen workplaces, social gatherings, sports classes, universities and so much more transition to online spaces, and most of these changes look like they will be sticking for some time.
It is indisputable that our digital habits have a toll on our mental health. We can all think of times where having such easy access to work emails on our smartphone, or being bombarded by calls and texts and expected to respond instantly has caused stress. Our love of social media batters our self confidence, and the unwavering stream of notifications popping up on our phone wreak havoc with our sleep schedules.
However, because our world is going online, we refuse to acknowledge this. We are a social species and we fear withdrawing from our online social spaces. Consequently, many of us view a digital detox as an isolating thing, banning us from interacting online. So even if in our self-evaluation we do identify our digital habits as having a negative impact on our health, we feel helpless.
In reality, a digital detox has the opposite effect. Limiting screen use will make you value the time spent online with friends more. Instead of endlessly scrolling through social media, you will use the time you allow yourself on your tech to interact more personally, for example by video calling friends.
Digital detoxes have also been shown to reduce anxiety, encourage mindfulness and improve self-esteem. Furthermore, your sleep will benefit. Getting the right amount of sleep is essential for maintaining good mental health, and the reduced exposure to blue light, as well as the calming effect of not being online, will help you do just that.
Plus, the time not spent on your tech can now be used for other activities which will also lift your general mood. Try to go for a walk without your phone – beneficial for both cognitive skills and fitness – or take extra time to cook a delicious healthy meal.
There are different levels of digital detox you can embark on, from going completely cold turkey and banning all tech, to simply limiting your screen hours. It is up to you to pick one that works best around your work schedule and daily needs.
Whichever you choose for World Mental Health Day, we recommend keeping a journal to roughly note down your thoughts and feelings. Over the course of the digital detox, it is likely you will see a general improvement in mood. Having written evidence of that will remind you of the benefits that taking a digital detox has on your mental health.
Rebalance Your Relationship with Tech for World Mental Health Day
We all know that the way we use technology can and does have a negative impact on our mental health. With World Mental Health Day this Saturday (10th October), there has never been a better time to focus on our relationship with technology. Whether you came to this conclusion through watching an eye-opening show such as ‘The Social Dilemma‘, seeing how others use tech, or a slow realisation of your own dysfunction relationship during your tech-tethered lockdown, we all feel it. Yet few of us have the resources to deal with the impact. So, we have put together a list of resources to help you log off and mindfully connect this World Mental Health Day.
Articles
We have written many times about the impacts that the digital sphere, tech addiction and social media can have on our mental health. From the discussion on how parents can help their teenagers through this difficult time online, to advice for those teens themselves we have a huge library of articles on our website on how to prioritise your mental health. Some of our best would be:
Our Podcast is another great place to go to this World Mental Health to gain tips for logging off and get inspired by people from all walks of life, from celebs to academics. Here are some particularly mental health-relevant episodes:
Memes and Mental Health– In this episode, the man behind the meme account @NickCaveAndTheBadMemes sat down with our founder Tanya Goodin to discuss how he uses memes and his platform to support his own mental health and that of his audience too. We reviewed this one if you want a quick overview of what was discussed, but we would recommend you give it a proper listen- it’s worth it!
And an episode about the power of technology to benefit our mental health, and in this case to create real-world connection is the interview of Yes Theory’s Thomas Brag.
Perhaps our most comprehensive resources to help you rebalance your relationship with technology are our two books: Off and Stop Staring at Screens.
Both offer practical tips to help you log off and methods of enforcing a new digital detox friendly routine. That way you can maintain your new lifestyle well beyond World Mental Health Day!
Course
Finally, our most complete resource has to be our digital wellbeing course. It launched only last month and is full of up-to-date stats, advice and tools to help you log off and improve your mental health. It includes six weeks of video, reading lists and quizzes to help you understand the reasons behind your dependence. It also includes exclusive course resources to help you on your journey, a quiz to measure your progress and much more. The course finishes with a guided two-week digital detox which you can personalise to fit your life. If you find yourself scrolling endlessly through your phone with no real purpose, anxious about logging off from work, yearning for a proper break but unable to achieve it or stressed out about other’s perfect Insta-lives this course is for you.
Whichever you choose, we hope that these resources will help you, even a little, to log off and improve your mental health and digital wellbeing this World Mental Health Day.
