The Path to Digital Detox: Regaining Control Over Your Tech Habits

Hey, my name is Teresa Hildebrand and this is Organized Chaos. We take a deep dive into living with intentionality, focusing on what's important in our lives so we can truly feel our best. It may feel chaotic at times, but with a little organization, the right mindset and a ton of self-love, we can still thrive. Join me as we talk to other busy moms and experts who will share tips and strategies to help you reach your goals. Hope you enjoy this episode of Organized Chaos. Now on to the show. Hey friends, welcome to this episode of Organized Chaos. Today we're going to be talking about the digital detox and how to regain control over your tech habits. Now we know that technology is everywhere. It's such a huge part of our lives and technology can be really positive. It can make our lives easier. It can connect us to people that we wouldn't be able to connect to. But I want to talk today about how it can impact you negatively and how the prevalence of technology in modern life can have a really big impact on our habits and our well-being. So we know that technology is everywhere. We use it for a lot of different things. We always have something with us that has to do with technology. We have our phones, sometimes we have smartwatches and we may even have digital assistants like Alexa. So it does help us in our day-to-day lives, right, but when it becomes something that we're so addicted to, it can impact us negatively. So today I want to talk about how we can actually enjoy those great things that technology can bring to us without it negatively impacting our lives and our health. We rely so much on technology nowadays, and I mean even think about how we're conditioned to use technology at every turn. So when was the last time you actually looked at an analog clock to check the time? We always have our phones on us or we have a smartwatch and we always look at that, and I also feel there's a lot of pressure to be plugged in, so to speak. It feels like we always need to check in or we're going to miss out on something. There's also the dopamine kits that we get from checking in, especially on social media. So there's always this almost like reward that we feel when we're checking in, when we're on social media, when we're scrolling through the feeds or looking at all the reels. Many times we do this because we're trying to escape a feeling, we're trying to escape boredom, we're trying to escape sadness, we're trying to escape some of these feelings that are sometimes really hard to deal with. So we go to social media or we tune in to some other form of technology, so we kind of not think about those feelings and not feel those feelings. Now let's talk about a couple of ways this can affect your productivity. So just think about it. Say, you sit down and you're scheduled to work, you want to work on a project, and then you sit down and you can't really think about what it is that you need to do. Maybe you didn't plan ahead. And then you start to think about well, let me get some ideas, let me go on social media. Or you just feel like, oh, I'm just going to take a break, let me look at my phone, and then you realize that 30 minutes, an hour has gone by and all you did was scroll social media or do some shopping. And then you come back and you haven't done anything that you said you were going to do. So obviously that's a form of procrastination and it affects your productivity. But also think about it when, let's say, you're doing this at nighttime. We know that looking at your phone right before bed is the worst for your sleep because your mind is racing and you're thinking about what you were looking at or I don't know if this is still true but the whole blue light thing that can affect your sleep. So just think about how there is now a lack of sleep, so that is going to affect your productivity in the daytime. But also think about how technology has actually shortened our attention span. I know that when I'm looking at something on social media, I mean that's why those reels or the TikTok is so popular, because it's like this constant barrage of really quick videos and it's like we expect that now in other areas of our lives. So imagine trying to sit and focus on work and you can't because your attention span is so short now, because we've been conditioned to do this when we're using technology. And it can also kill our creativity because we're not giving ourselves the space to just be in silence and go outdoors and go for a walk or do all those kinds of things that really fuel creativity, because we're constantly attached to our devices. And there's a whole other issue about mental health. It can affect our mental health to be on social media because we're always looking at other people's highlight reels and we think that because they're living their best life, we suck. I mean, that's a very simplistic way to put it, but I mean, even think about kids. Nowadays, our kids are, you know, they're still young teenagers, so they don't really have access to social media. They have access to YouTube YouTube kids because we want to make sure that we have some guardrails on that, but there's a lot of kids out there that are very, very young, that have access to social media and it's super detrimental to their mental health. So, now that we've gone over how we're super attached to our mobile devices or technology in general, let's talk about how we can actually do a little bit of a detox and I don't really like the word detox, but I felt like it captures the essence of what I really want to talk about. So, really, what a digital detox is is reducing the excessive time that you're on screen or that you're on social media for a period of time, and it's really to kind of give you an ability to figure out how you feel when you're not using technology so much and then to start creating better habits for yourself, and it can make a big difference. A lot of people will do this and I mean it becomes such a big deal that people actually have to announce it. Like if you ever go on social media, somebody will say you know, they'll announce that they're not going to be on social media for a period of time let's say, a week or two weeks or whatever a month, I don't know and it'll either coincide with, like, a vacation they're going to have or they're just trying to really detox in a sense, and they have to tell you that they're not going to be around, at least on social media, for a period of time Because, like I said, we've been so conditioned to just see people online that it can be weird if we don't see them. So how do you do this? How do you actually go through a period of time where you can reduce the amount of use that you have, that you have with technology? So you know, some people can go cold turkey and then just stop with it, and there's only so much you can remove yourself from technology because obviously, like I said, it's so prevalent in our lives. But I think that you know, maybe specifically with social media, like you can reduce the time you're on and first what you can see is like, how long are you on social media there are, you know, on your phone is built in that it will show you how much screen time you've actually had, so that way you can actually see it and it can be eye opening. So the first step is to actually maybe even track how much time you're spending on even specific social media apps, so your phone can tell you how much time you spent in every app that you have on your phone or, in total, how much you've used your phone, how many times you've actually looked at your phone. I mean, it gets really crazy. So if you want to deep dive into that like you can do that. But I mean, just knowing can give you a sense of okay, this is kind of a problem, I need to take care of this, and you can just reduce the time that you're on and then just keep track of that. Or you could just be like I'm just gonna have like these boundaries that I'm gonna set for myself, where, let's say, I'm not gonna use my phone, or I'm not gonna have my phone when it's dinner time or when I'm with my family, and I'm gonna keep it in a space where I know I'm not gonna get distracted by it, or I'm gonna, you know, dedicate certain times in the day to actually check my phone. It's gonna be a little bit more intentional. It's not gonna be this reflex where I just pick up my phone and I don't even know why I'm doing it, and then you could just be more intentional about when you're actually gonna use your phone where you know you do want to go on social media and just like waste time. So you know you put it on your calendar that you're gonna have a specific time during the day where it's just gonna be that and then you feel like you're not missing out, but also you're setting that boundary where you're not gonna have that need to go on your phone, even if there isn't really a reason to do that, because it's just this habit that you have. Maybe you actually set up a time where it's the tech-free daily time, that you don't use technology at all or you don't use social media at all during that period of time. So you know you can go either way. You either dedicate some time where you know you're gonna be on social media, or you know you're gonna be using some type of technology and that's your time and you schedule it on your calendar and then you can have a time where it's like no technology, technology-free time, and that's how you set it up for your day. And I know this is gonna be hard but it's worth trying because it will help you kind of regain control over the habits that you have around your phone and other technology. I know that I am starting to have a problem when I start to get irritable, when I start to get moody and when I feel like there's always like these distractions. So I know my limits. So you know, start there, like know your limits and know how this is affecting you so that you can take action. Okay, so I'm gonna wrap this up with just a few tips that I have that will help you with this. So if you want to actually go through some type of detox with technology, here are some of my tips. So, number one it's really important to have a place for where you're gonna leave your phone and I talk about the phone a lot because it's so easy to just carry around. So a lot of these tips are gonna be like phone-related tips. So have a space dedicated for your phone where you can actually put it away and it's not at your bedside. So take away those chargers from your nightstand and put them somewhere else so that you actually need to physically get up to check your phone, because some of us will actually wake up in the middle of the night and just pick up the phone. So not putting your charger next to your bed is a really good idea and a really great way to kind of set that boundary for yourself. We usually put our phone chargers in our closet. We actually have all of our phones in our closet, like our kids included. They do not have. They have chargers in their room, but that's strictly for daytime and they can't leave them in their rooms at night. And we do the same. We put them in the closet. So we set that boundary for ourselves and for everyone in our family. Number two is replace a habit of going on to your phone with a different habit. Maybe you'll you can read a book, maybe you can go for a walk, maybe you can even talk to someone in real life. But I'll joke you aside. Replacing the habit of being on your phone with another habit is a really great way to stick to this new habit. And tip number three is you can use technology to stop using technology. So what I mean by that is using apps that actually keep you from going on to apps on your phone. You can set it up in your settings where you can't use a certain app during periods of time, or maybe you just like shut it off, where there are certain days that your phone won't go onto these apps or websites or whatever so you can actually use technology to your benefit to keep you from using it so much and actually create better habits. Alright, that is all I have for you today. Take one of these tips and implement them today and see how that works, see how you feel, see if it actually helps you with your productivity and, most importantly, with your mental health. Alright, I hope you guys have an amazing day. Thank you for tuning in again and I'll see you next week.