In a society more connected than we’ve ever been before, our accessibility has become directly impacted due to our availability to those around us (at work and at play).
Pulled in many different directions, we really don’t get an opportunity to re-set and take time out for ourselves to prioritise the things of true value to us. The problem we need to address is whether we can sustain this conflict of expectations and, if not, how do we manage this balance to still enjoy these aspects of our life. (Great!!)
The very fact that you are reading this article suggests that the ‘digital detox’ may have only been partially adopted by you (as yet) and that’s ok! But in order to gather an understanding of the potential benefits of a controlled detox, let’s first consider what it is about ‘clicks’ that have us constantly engaged with smartphones and social media.
Dopamine. The chemical messenger in our brains that gets blamed for addiction. Whether that be an abused drug or a social media obsession, dopamine is the catalyst that makes us want “more” each time we follow, like, post or share. And doesn’t our marketing industry know it? The very fact that it is an “automatic chemical response occurring subconsciously”means that we need to knowingly override the process to get the desired outcome. So how can we get the best of both worlds? How can we learn to be more present in our personal lives whilst simultaneously learning to switch off?
Starve the subconscious
61% of people (globally) check their phones within five minutes of waking. Yep, instead of kissing a loved one, snuggling with a pet or watching TV, more and more of us are reaching for our mobile phones, scrolling through emails and checking social media before barely opening our eyes.
The subconscious mind is one million times more powerful than our conscious mind. It drives 99% of all daily activities our body’s execute. The simplest and most effective way to override this is to put systems in place to stop it, dead in its tracks. Putting a system in place is one thing – actioning these systems is another thing, however. We reach for our phones as our body craves that dopamine hit, no different to the one you get with coffee, chocolate or sugar in general.
The simplest action is to remove all mobile devices, including tablets and iPads, (which present a whole new genre of temptations) from your bedroom. Out of sight = out of mind. Instead, consider having your mobile phone packed away in your work bag ready for collection as you walk out the door.
Feel free to hold yourself accountable to the change by your housemate or partner or, have a reward in place at the end of the week as a “good on you” for sticking to your digi-detox.
This is no different to any bad habit or obsession we’ve all had in life. The quicker you make a conscious effort to remove the brain’s desire and be held accountable to that change, the sooner you will achieve the sought outcome.
Batch it
In the corporate world, we are often taught of the “distraction email” and its causes to your productivity output. A 10-second interruption can take, on average, up to 20 minutes to fully recover your initial momentum. Social media is no different. The simplest way to overcome this desire is to create a system to batch check your social media exactly the same as we would do with our email.
Simple right? Easier said than done.
I use social media as an opportunity to build my brand so it does make sense to respond and action these messages more regularly than the average person. I still ensure, however, that I spend no more than 15 minutes on my platforms at 8:30am, midday and 5pm. When you set those initial times in place you will certainly be craving the next dopamine hit (for at least the first few days) however, fast forward a month and you will overlook that social media hit at lunchtime and not even consider it twice.
Power down
Fact – 95% of people never turn their phones off. Whether that be on an aircraft, when asleep or at the movies, silent mode gets far more love than any of us could ever wish for in life.
Learn to turn off your phone when you are not in times of need. The simple process of turning it off makes it that little bit harder to check our social media accounts as a result of the delay it creates in trying to switch back on. As a result, the noveltywears off and you will fast see how comfortable you’ll feel having your phone off.
As a starting point – try this. Every main meal you have (3 times a day), turn your phone off for that 30-45 minutes. The average person picks up their smart device 85 times per day for a scan time of 2.1 minutes! In other words, don’t expect to remove yourself completely from digital from the outset – it’s a habit that will take some time to adjust to
Repeat
One of the earlier mistakes I made in my professional career was in my first sales role as a 24-year-old new grad. I was super excited to get my personalised email address and the first thing I couldn’t wait to do was link this through to my devices so that I could be contacted at any time. Fatal mistake. The first time I received an email on a Saturday afternoon from my CEO , as you can imagine, I swiftly replied which merely highlighted that I was plugged in and ‘available’ as necessary. What followed over the next 5-10 years was almost an unwritten expectation that regardless of time, day and geographic location, there would be some sort of speedy reply. We can all sit here and list off those people who that through text, messenger, a tag or a post, will almost immediately respond. You don’t want to be on that list.
Switching off will have profound effects on your personal life. It will aid in the development of all your relationships – which is now proven to be the number one catalyst for longevity. It will make you more socially adaptable with interpersonal relationships – the key determinant of ones emotional intelligence. And, most importantly, It will move you quickly toward a growth mindset simply by not having the strong desire and need to validate yourself online for every location you arrive at or every event you attend. And, If you want to drastically change the way you approach social media, consider opening the menu tool in your smartphone which displays up-to-the-minute usage time on each of your applications. This is the scary truth of your social media usage! CEO of the ‘Happiness Research Institute’ (yes that’s a real thing), Meik Wiking, has previously stated that ‘people naturally have strong tendencies to compare themselves to others on social media.’ This suggests that we are moving toward a place where we will never be truly satisfied by who we are when compared with our peers if we don’t begin to embrace the attitude of being comfortable in switching off.
If you approach a social media detox with an ‘all or none’ attitude you are setting yourself up for failure. Instead; putting a few easily implementable systems in place which will help to change the way you approach your social media is the foundation for a sustainable change. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Happy browsing.