Technology is arguably the best invention to happen since sliced bread. It allows us to FaceTime with far away family members, watch our friends live their lives through social media, know the great things happening all around the world and show off our achievements for our friends and family to see.

On the other hand, being plugged in all the time is exhausting. As a society we are constantly distracted, not being present in real life situations, missing out on once in a lifetime moments. We are stressed out with the notifications popping up on our phones, the constant emails coming through and the strain our eyes experience staring at screen for hours on end.

As a result, our physical and mental wellness is suffering, yet we can’t break the pattern. It has become the norm so much so that we aren’t realizing how it affects our bodies on the day to day basis.

One by one, let’s work on taking a break from the demands of the internet and devices and have a digital detox.

Trust me, that Facebook post will still be funny later.

Continue reading for three ways to go on a digital detox – even if you are surrounded by technology.

Throw away the excuse that you have to be on a screen device for work. Yes, there are things we can’t avoid completely, but we can certainly improve. Here’s how:

Adjust Your Notification Settings

Push notifications are the worst. They pop up at all hours of the day or night and cause our brains to be distracted immediately.

Have you ever walked out of a meeting, glanced down at your phone and been overwhelmed by the long stream of notifications? I know I have.

Turning off your push notifications for every app you have will allow you to reduce the stress of always seeing your phone light up. This will also decrease the amount of times you open that app, which will inevitably lessen that amount of time you will be on the app.

This works well for desktops too. Turn off any notifications that pop up to alert you of that new email, news story or updates available. You will go on your apps, emails and internet less if you aren’t being berated.

Set Time for Emails

Limit the number of times you check emails a day. Spending time checking emails for hours will cause unnecessary anxiety and urgency that is not really there.

Taking a break from emails allows your brain to focus on the task at hand. In the book The Four-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, he urges checking email just twice per day! Ferriss has figured out a secret to working smarter.

“E-mail is the single largest interruption in modern life. In a digital world, creating time hinges on minimizing it. The first step towards controlling the e-mail impulse is setting up an auto-response, which indicates you will be checking e-mail twice per day or less. This is an example of “batching” tasks, or performing like tasks at set times, between which you let them accumulate.”

Stop Looking at Your Phone Before (Or In) Bed

Most jobs don’t stop when the clock hits 5 pm. However, we need to stop allowing work to come into bed with us. Bright screens in dark rooms are affecting our sleep. There are millions of cartoons out there teasing our society about this, yet everyone still does it.

Make your bed a screen-free sanctuary. Your sleep will improve and your brain will thank you.

Challenge Yourself

This weekend, challenge yourself to have a full digital detox and remove any screens, internet connections and technology from your life for 24 hours. Your state of mind will greatly be improved.

Our 2018 Trends Report is all about Mental Wellness. They are officially released on Sept 12th. In the meantime, download our 2017 Trends Report to see what you’ve missed.