Some of you might remember I set a goal in 2016 to step away from my keyboard every evening and to put my time to better use. Since then I can honestly say I've had a much better nights sleep and I've found that I'm a lot less stressed before bed, so my little brain is able to close all those stressful tabs and totally relax.
I've put together a post on simple ways to give yourself a digital detox and whats worked for me.
1. Step Away From Keyboard - As difficult as it is, detaching yourself from your laptop around 6-7pm and taking a long bath or winding down with a herbal tea is much more beneficial. When I was at university I'd get into a habit of studying until right before bed and end up not being able to get a good night's sleep. I know it's easier said than done, but if you detach yourself from your screen you'd be surprised at how well you sleep.
2. Read In Bed - I am the worst for hopping into bed and checking all social media apps until I fall asleep, however, I've recently been getting into a routine of not going through all my apps 50x and instead, I have been picking up a book and reading - I know, shocker. I personally love being snuggled in bed with a good book it can really help take your mind off reality.
3. Leave Phone At Home - If you've got plans to go to the gym, walk the dog or pop to the shops, it's worth leaving your phone at home. Your mind is a lot more open and focused on the task at hand if you know your phone isn't near you. Plus, it's nice to not always feel as though you need to check your phone when you're in the middle of doing something.
4. Delete Social Media Apps - I sometimes find social media can trigger my anxiety or change my mood, therefore it's sometimes worth deleting the apps for a couple of hours every now and then. I went through a faze of deleting my Facebook app and I can honestly say it really changed my mood, I was a lot more focused on myself. It does sound a bit extreme, but having a social media detox does more good than you think and you quickly discover you don't need to keep a tab on everything going on in the world.
5. Use Paper - Writing to do lists on our phones isn't as restorative as writing on paper, what I mean by this is keeping all your thoughts onto one device isn't healthy. I like to keep all my lists in notebooks and I find my brain isn't as distracted or tempted to do other things, whereas it is when I write them on my phone.
6. Give Yourself Deadlines - I actually learnt this technique from my therapist, but basically, if you write down what you want/need to do, give yourself a time frame on that specific task. So if you want an evening watching Stranger Things on Netflix, then give yourself a time of 2 hours and stick to that. Sounds tedious, I know, but you appreciate things a lot more when you do this and have more motivation to do other things.
I've put together a post on simple ways to give yourself a digital detox and whats worked for me.
1. Step Away From Keyboard - As difficult as it is, detaching yourself from your laptop around 6-7pm and taking a long bath or winding down with a herbal tea is much more beneficial. When I was at university I'd get into a habit of studying until right before bed and end up not being able to get a good night's sleep. I know it's easier said than done, but if you detach yourself from your screen you'd be surprised at how well you sleep.
2. Read In Bed - I am the worst for hopping into bed and checking all social media apps until I fall asleep, however, I've recently been getting into a routine of not going through all my apps 50x and instead, I have been picking up a book and reading - I know, shocker. I personally love being snuggled in bed with a good book it can really help take your mind off reality.
3. Leave Phone At Home - If you've got plans to go to the gym, walk the dog or pop to the shops, it's worth leaving your phone at home. Your mind is a lot more open and focused on the task at hand if you know your phone isn't near you. Plus, it's nice to not always feel as though you need to check your phone when you're in the middle of doing something.
4. Delete Social Media Apps - I sometimes find social media can trigger my anxiety or change my mood, therefore it's sometimes worth deleting the apps for a couple of hours every now and then. I went through a faze of deleting my Facebook app and I can honestly say it really changed my mood, I was a lot more focused on myself. It does sound a bit extreme, but having a social media detox does more good than you think and you quickly discover you don't need to keep a tab on everything going on in the world.
5. Use Paper - Writing to do lists on our phones isn't as restorative as writing on paper, what I mean by this is keeping all your thoughts onto one device isn't healthy. I like to keep all my lists in notebooks and I find my brain isn't as distracted or tempted to do other things, whereas it is when I write them on my phone.
6. Give Yourself Deadlines - I actually learnt this technique from my therapist, but basically, if you write down what you want/need to do, give yourself a time frame on that specific task. So if you want an evening watching Stranger Things on Netflix, then give yourself a time of 2 hours and stick to that. Sounds tedious, I know, but you appreciate things a lot more when you do this and have more motivation to do other things.
How do you unplug from technology??
