What is Digital Detox?
Digital time out. Digital detox. What do these terms mean?
These concepts are about spending a certain amount of time without using digital devices. You can forgo smartphones, computers and social media completely, or you can include specific methods in everyday life.
Why do you need a digital detox?
Media consumption. Digitalization. Constant availability. What does that do to you?
On average, we look at our smartphones 200 times a day and unlock them 80 times a day. More than 50% of us have our smartphones at the table while eating meals and 58% of us read messages as soon as they are received.
These numbers indicate that our lives are taking place online more and more. In addition to our increasingly digital environment, the pressure to be available at all times is increasing - whether privately or for work.
The use of our smartphones and social media is now firmly anchored in our everyday life. Our smartphone is often used in every free moment.
How does a digital detox work?
A digital detox means spending a certain amount of time without using digital devices. This can be done for a longer period of time in the form of a retreat, workshops or the like, as well as implemented by personal methods.
At a digital detox retreat, you hand in your digital devices on arrival and have them returned to you shortly before departure. This creates space for self-care, to recharge your batteries and for personal development.
Digital detox in everyday life, for example by deliberately putting your phone away before going to bed or installing time-measuring apps that show you how much time you spend on certain social media platforms, also plays a role here.
You can only develop a long-term, mindful and balanced relationship with the digital world by reflecting upon, consciously questioning and actively confronting your use of your smartphone and other devices.
How do you benefit from a digital detox?
A digital detox is used to develop a more mindful relationship with the digital devices in your life. At the same time, a time-out creates the space to re-focus on your own well-being without digital distraction.
Through relaxation, recovery and deceleration you will return to your digitally dominated everyday life more mindful and will have gained new methods for interacting with your smartphone in a balanced manner.
A digital detox is not about renunciation and limitation, but about further development and enrichment. The aim is to question how you use your digital devices, to assess that relationship and to create sustainable healthy boundaries.