When you are willingly embarking on a journey that requires you to refrain from using social media, smartphone apps and televisions, here is how you can avert the common blunders
Digital minimalism is the new cool. If you are wondering to hop on the bandwagon, steer clear of these four mistakes smartphone addicts often commit.
Losing Sight of Goals
Skipping on goals and directly plunging into the detoxifying phase can often compel you to swerve and go astray. While it might be challenging to keep away from social media and real-time updates, having clear a sight of goals and personal needs that verify why you decided to go for detox helps. Setting goals basically suppress the frequent surge of FOMO—the compulsive wish to stay hooked into others’ lives and set notifications for minute-to-minute updates. Often, you are swept by the urge to log in and spend hours catching up on the days’ activities thereby spending hours on phone. Goal setting and tracking personal development train you into staying calm and productive sans the scrolling and tap-tapping.
Reliance on Passive Consumption of Digital Information
Even when your digital Sabbath is over, make sure to not passively scroll the information and stare at the screen for hours. Turn off notifications and schedule a specific hour for using the apps. Understanding the fact that none of the information is urgent is the first step to excel at abstinence. Once you have reduced the habit of passive scrolling, you are better disposed to refrain from checking your phone and concentrating at work. This smoothens your transition to the detox phase later.
Failure at Practical Execution of Goals
You may have chalked out an elaborate list of well-articulate goals regarding digital abstinence, but you systematically fail at achieving any. Reason? The hesitation to do the needful in real life. Be it the deletion of app, de-cluttering of phone, using DND, keeping away the device when working, engaging in physical activities and socialisation—every addict has separate parameters which will decide the success of this journey. Unless you introduce a new set of efficient measures, you will hardly make an inch’s progress.
Beginning the day by Checking Phone
A common habit in the era of WFH, unlocking the phone screen right after waking up triggers anxiety, depression, stress and probably hijacks your positive emotion and attention for the day! Instead, try physical exercises, relish a yummy cuppa, water the plants—literally everything that does not involve staring at a gadget.
