Do you reach to check your cell phone, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat or email immediately upon waking up in the morning? If so, you’re not alone.
More and more of us feel a constant pull to check our digital apps and devices, not just routinely, but constantly and obsessively. For some, cellphone and digital addiction is a real menace compromising productivity, interpersonal relationships, careers and overall mental health and wellness.
Ever wonder how many hours in a day you spend randomly surfing your computer or staring at your phone? It might be worth considering if you feel you’re distracted in the company of others, or not as present or productive as you could be in general.
While drafting this short piece on digital detox, for example, I have glanced at my phone (text and other notifications) at least a dozen times and set up three extra-curricular activities. I’ve checked my email eight times, poked my nose into Facebook once and responded to two personal messages, scrolled my Instagram feed twice and fell into the rabbit hole of Google while researching some facts, leading me to three websites and two TED Talks that are not even remotely related to the topic I am working on.
I did most of this without really thinking, enabling myself to be distracted to the point of procrastination. Had I simply concentrated on the task at hand – writing this article – I would have finished at least 1.5 hours earlier and been at the beach by now. And as a middle-aged adult, I’m not even hitting the prime average of time spent on digital or mobile devices.
According to Kantar, a leading global researcher, the average millennial (those aged 16 to 30) with Internet access spends 3.2 hours a day on digital mobile devices. That’s the equivalent of nearly a whole day every week, or 49 days over the course of a year.
Fortunately, there are ways to gain awareness and, if you choose, reduce and limit the amount of time spent aimlessly on mobile and digital devices, even if you find it hard to stop.
First, try setting limits. For the summer, I’ve committed to checking my email only four times a day. I’ve also signed off of most blogs/newsletters and unsubscribed to shopping/discount sites. As for my phone, I’m removing all the apps I don’t need that distract me. Next, I’ll switch off all notifications and mobile data, so when I’m out and about, I’m not constantly tempted to check social media Hint: if you wish to know which apps you use most often on your phone or notebook, check settings, battery, battery usage for percentages.
Not surprisingly, there are also many digital detox apps to consider, designed to help set rules and keep tabs on your digital activity. AppDetox, ShutApp, Digital Detox, Moment, Anti-Social and Rescue Time are highly rated digital discipline apps.
And now I’m going to give myself permission to Google them.
