A “Digital Detox”: Worth it?
The term “digital detox” was not created during Covid-19 times, yet feels necessary in todays society. While I have never done a true digital detox, I have definitely had my moments where I should have taken one. When I reflect on my personal challenges with technology, many different thoughts and feelings come to mind. It is hard to imagine life without our iPhones or social media apps, mainly because it is what a lot of us grew up with. There are days when I just want to turn off all my electronic devices and there are days where I am glued to my screens. The balance between healthy and unhealthy Internet habits are tough and especially challenging when you throw in a global pandemic. For me, I think I struggle the most with being “overly” connected and feel a sense of guilt when I am not always readily responding to texts or answering Facetime calls. Especially during quarantine, I felt that if I didn’t answer a call or Snapchat that I would be automatically disconnected from my friends. I found that I was trying to squeeze in Facetime calls when I had assignments due at midnight just so I was staying “connected” with my friends. While this is not a healthy Internet habit, it felt necessary to be able to have a sense of normalcy during these times and be somewhat connected to those in your life. Additionally, having a profile on so many different social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc., I found myself mindlessly scrolling for hours, just incase I was missing out on something. If you asked me a year ago if these were my Internet habits, I would completely disagree. Yet with Covid-19, I have to say that it feels necessary to have these habits to stay connected with those around you.
While I know that these Internet habits are unhealthy for me, I have found that as we re-enter a second lockdown that I am going to set more boundaries for my Internet use. During today’s times, I must say that I don’t think I would be able to do a 30-day cleanse or digital detox from my phone. I have tried to set some goals such as trying to get my screen-time on my phone to an average of under 4 hours. I have started off small since some days my screen time can be close to six hours and hopefully will be able to continue to cut-down on my screen-time. Additionally, I am going to turn off all my social media notifications. In the article, “It’s Time for a Digital Detox. (You Know You Need It.)”, recommends turning off all notifications other than those for work. I think this is a great idea for me since I will be less inclined to open up my social media apps without a notification on my lock screen. Overall, there are definitely areas of improvement when it comes to my Internet habits, but hopefully with having more boundaries I will be able to break some of these habits.
