Apr 14, 2025
seen from Algeria
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from Netherlands
seen from China
seen from Belarus
seen from Brazil
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from China
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
It's so weird how we KNOW that the internet is bad for us, and yet we are still so attached to it. Like, I know that, compared to the periods when I stay away from it, when I use it my brain just feels weird, I'm worse socially speaking, I'm less productive, less creative, and time goes by faster without me managing to actually enjoy it. I've had my biggest glow ups during the times when I've avoided it. And yet, I keep using it. It's basically automatic, taking my phone or computer and going on Youtube, Tumbrl or Instagram. I might take a break soon to get my brain and my spark back. My goal for 2026 is to go analog as much as possible.
Life is weird when you're disconnected from technology for even a small amount of time. I mean, someone died today, I saw a post about it, I was confused, and it took me like 10 mins to figure out what happened after seeing so many posts. Like I didn't know, my guy, I didn't really care, I just wanted to knit and enjoyed it. Can we go back to the days before social media?
Where can I cut out screen time?
With so many different devices available, such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops, it's easy to spend hours a day staring at a screen. But all that screen time can harm our physical and mental health if we're not careful.
Digital isolation can help prevent some of the negative effects of screen exposure, such as social anxiety, FOMO (fear of missing out), eye strain, and reduced sleep. If you find yourself constantly scrolling on screens, you need an internet detox.
Get a digital detox and recharge your spirit. Digital Detox meaning decoded by Nth Sense with 9 easy ideas to implement.
Effect of Technology on Health - How to Do a Digital Detox in 7 Easy Steps
Have you ever heard of a "digital detox"? Many heard about it when American musician John Mayer finished a one-week detox in 2010 and invited his fans to join him. Or maybe you heard of "Digital Detox Week," a yearly April event encouraged by Adbusters magazine which suggests cutting back on digital stimulation.
Just what is a "digital detox"?
Also called "technology detox," digital cleansing," or even "e-tox," the idea is to just clear your head out of overstimulation and information overload, and restore balance to your life. You know that "healthy feeling."
Urban Dictionary defines "e-tox" as "detoxification from digital and/or digital devices." Adbusters suggests meditating in your relationship with your box, reflecting on slowing down and reconnecting with reality in a detox.
But actually, a detox is what you make it. You know yourself and your needs best. Thus, detox your own way! Read on for a few thoughts...
Why detox?
Plain and simple, because too much of a good thing might not be a fantastic thing.
Your"Why" may differ from mine. My current 48-hour digital detox enabled my mind and body to break more. I got to perform various fun, relaxing items. Admittedly, I wanted to put my relationship with technology to the test, and prove to myself that I'm not an Internet enthusiast (probably a lot of us are not so sure!). Can my digital life control me, or did I restrain It?
So what's in it for you?
7 Steps to Make Your Digital Detox Easier
Of course, you can just plunge into it, or you can use some or all of these 7 tips to make your detox simpler:
1) Pick a time period. Cut back on digital stimulation for a weekend, or an entire week. Or institute a routine weekly cleanse, by way of instance, every Saturday, Sunday, or a block of time every evening. For me, plugging and unplugging daily was harder than a longer detox, so I began the easy way. I suggest picking a time period that's doable and realistic, although any alternative may feel like a stretch!
2) Decide on the conditions. What are the requirements for your job and family life? Is email and telephone use okay, or can you do a phone-free, 100% offline cleansing? Within my 48-hour detox, I truly wanted to detach, so I just checked phone messages after a day if a treatment client was in crisis. Create a list of the ways you are frequently"plugged in" and decide what you can do by location (work, home, other), from the device (telephone, computer, iPad...) or by activity (email, text, gaming, internet surfing, Facebook, Twitter...).
3) Reduce temptation. Limit access to digital activities. Eliminate Twitter, Facebook, and other programs from your phone if necessary. It is easy to reinstall them later. Are you going to leave your computer on 24/7? Will you carry your cell phone with you at all times, or leave it behind? I had more trouble when my phone was handy. How can it be if people around you use technology? It was hard to see my husband online during my detox!
4) Inform others that you're detoxing. Announce it on Twitter and Facebook, or set up a vacation email. This may reduce the flow of incoming messages. Plus accountability works! Invite others to join you in offline activities, like a walk, coffee, or dinner with a friend, i.e. power in numbers.
5) Enlist help for your travel. What will you do if it gets tough? Make a list of choices to "plugging in" for all those withdrawal minutes: Journal (also helps with self-reflection), read a book, exercise, have a bath. Do not leave it to chance. Muster all of the help you can ahead.
6) Just do it! Despite the fact that the impulse to go back to your digital world may drive you mad, be in the moment as far as possible. Draw attention to your senses: Smell a flower, see a sunset, listen to music, get a massage. While I was originally counting the hours to the end of my detox, feelings of relaxation and euphoria started creeping in as time went by. Watch how it is for you!
7) And now what? After detoxing, shut your eyes and take inventory of how you are feeling inside: Is your inner pace different? How do your body and mind feel? Was it worthwhile? I felt relieved to know that everyone and everything online was still there when I returned. But most of all, I was"there" more than previously.
Detoxing once may increase awareness and provide some relief, but it's unlikely to form a new habit. How healthy do you want to be? You can just hit the detox Duplicate button. The choice is yours!
Technology Detox
What platform am I giving up? Why?
For my technology detox, I have decided to give up Instagram. This social media app is very distracting and I often use it as a procrastination tool. I spend hours scrolling through my feed and it can be very time consuming to keep up to date with other’s posts. Moreover, I find that Instagram is how I begin and end my day, and I hope to change this habit. There have been several studies conducted on the negative implications on sleep quality caused by using a cell phone before bed and I hope that through this experiment I am able to not only focus well and be more productive but sleep better. Furthermore, it can be mentally draining to constantly be exposed to unrealistic beauty standards on social media. I hope that by restricting my access to social media, I will feel more confident.
Surprisingly, the six days in which I undertook this experiment passed by very fast. In fact, I did not open the Instagram app once during the course of this experiment. Although there were definitely moments where I felt the urge to open Instagram, I was able to resist the temptations as I wanted to successfully complete the challenge and avoid filling out the broken commitment form.
How I initially felt when I was unable to scroll through Instagram:
How I felt when I was able to work productively and sleep early:
My reaction to successfully completing this experiment:
What did I learn about myself?
Through this experiment, I was able to come to terms with the amount of wasted time spent on Instagram. This became especially alarming once I realized how frequently I spent long periods of time scrolling through photos of people I didn't know. I even found myself sleeping earlier as I was not scrolling through Instagram for an hour before sleeping.
I was definitely able to work more productively as I was not taking 30-minute breaks on Instagram. One thing I learned is no matter how many apps I delete or restrict my usage from, I will almost always find another platform or app to use for entertainment. Instead of spending time on Instagram when I felt unmotivated to complete homework or simply when I needed a break, I spent time on YouTube or Snapchat. However, the time spent on these apps was significantly less in comparison to the time I usually spend on Instagram. I realized that if I truly want to become more productive and make impacting changes to my life, I need to gain more self-control and focus on what matters such as studying and spending time with my family.
Now that the detox is over, I have reinstalled Instagram and used it on a few instances. However, the time I spend on the app is significantly less than before completing this detox. Whenever I feel the impulse to open the app, I remind myself how pointless it is to spend time on the app and how I can be using my time to work productively. In order to gain better self-control, I want to keep the app installed on my phone instead of deleting it completely. This way, each time I feel tempted to open the app, I am forced to make a conscious decision to either give in to spending precious time emerging myself into the lives of other people or focusing on my own life and making productive changes.
Nowadays it can seem like tech is making life much easier than it was in the past. We literally have access to tech everywhere, but how to break free from..
Digi Detox
Hey old pals. It’s been too long. I’ve been a busy motherfucker lately. And I’ve also been setting tumblr aside, along with insta, pinterest, twitter (although- let’s be real, that one is more dead than festival kimonos), and as much technology as possible. Unfortunately in this situation, my work requires a lot of screen time. I love my job, but selling real estate is a classic emailing/texting/more freakin emails all day kind of thing. So when trying to reduce my technology intake I can’t completely go cold turkey. But that just means I need to be extra strong in my personal time. I think a good detox is amazing. I will detox from anything. Sugars, alcohol, and in this case, technology. A Detox is great for your body, mind, and especially your soul because it’s a simple way to declutter your life. Our vices are a constant buzzing going on in our heads. If you’re used to intaking 150 calories of added sugars per day, your body comes to expect that bowl of sweet artificial cereal. It pesters you like a software update for the sugar all day and distracts you from living your life. This simple idea carries over into whatever your bod is used to having that isn’t helping it grow or keeping it fueled in a healthy way. Enter social media (and all screen time). I truly feel that I am addicted to it. I spend hours editing pictures that never see the light of gram. My thumb is more toned than I am because I probably scroll several miles a day. I even had alarms set to watch my snap stories so they wouldn’t get too backed up throughout the day. Shudder. Addiction is a gross thing for your soul and it’s toxic. And it’s true that you don’t even see your addiction wrapping it’s filthy little salad fingers around you until you’ve already fallen deep in its bowels. So lately I’ve been taking the idea of tech detoxes very seriously. It’s not something that can happen over night, but I recently worked my way up to two and a half days sober of the stuff. It felt so freeing. I finished a book. I rode a bike past a river and changing leaves in a cable knit. It was beautiful and 100% the kind of thing that would normally find its way into my feed, but I resisted the hanging fruit. I made a point to capture the moment with polaroids instead. Non instagrammable. Just for me. It sounds dumb, but it really was tough to fight the urge to snap an hd shot and play with the brightness and fade, but that just shows how my brain has been fucked with. Since this was my longest attempt at off the grid living to date, I want to share that I did have an over all feeling of light anxiety throughout. My presumption is that the more and longer you ween yourself off, the easier it gets, and the more the fomo fades away. I can only hope. I highly, highly recommend giving it a try. Although it was slightly anxiety inducing, it really is a more free and spirited way of living. My mind had always been distracted by what was going on in the snap world and unable to fully place focus on the action in my center stage. When you remove the option to scroll, you see your own reality in a clearer way. I will continue to experiment with longer black outs and i’m thinking once a week. Like a pallet cleanser. I’m set to do a four day health and wellness detox retreat on Nantucket next weekend which is incredibly invigorating and exciting. Although the detox is not focused on technology I’m going to add it to the list as a test and, of c, I will keep the tumblr squad up to date.