46 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Melanie
5 years ago

This is a really great post, with some great points.I think I may try a SM detox this month.

Jenny
5 years ago

This is so very true! I have been working on myself and my teen daughter to put the phone down. It is so freeing, and I have noticed my daughters overall attitude towards everything fluctuates with her phone use. Great info on Dopamine. Thanks for sharing!

Nicole | Glamorously You

You’ve got some great ideas here! I’ve been trying to limit my social media use and doing more productive activities, like reading, instead. I love the logging in/logging out idea!

Melissa Javan
5 years ago

These are great tips. I’ve already started with the shut off notifications one. I loved how you started this article. Good research.

Victoria
Victoria
5 years ago

This was so good and I definitely need to start implementing some of these. It completely makes sense about SM causing your brain to release dopamine. It’s an addiction, literally. Wow. Thank you for this, this was really eye opening.

Michelle Stallings
5 years ago

I really need to detox more, since I work in social media and am inevitably on it all of the time. I do have many apps muted for notifications, like Snapchat and Twitter and things I don’t need to check all the time.

Angie
5 years ago

Great post! I have to admit that this is absolutely one of the hardest things for me to do. I am an urgent person, so I hate to think of anything sitting there while I’m not attending to it.

Yvette
5 years ago

Super cool article. I totally agree with you and I love the point of logging out! So simple but very effective.

Talisa
5 years ago

I’ve also written about digital detoxing over on my blog. Nowadays it’s one of those things I hardly get to do, unless I truly force myself to take a break; once a week is as much as I get in lately. Even if it’s something as simple as reading a (paper-based) book, deliberate breaks are my lifesavers.

Sara | mshealthesteem.com

It’s definitely so important to find a balance. As a blogger I can really relate. It would be so easy to live on my phone with all of the notifications, engaging and work to be done. It could never end if I let it (there’s always something digital you could be doing, right?) So I have a schedule and I stop working when it’s done. And I also take 1 day off per week with no phone! Because otherwise you’d just go bonkers 😅. Thanks for sharing. It’s such an important thing to be aware of and so important for… Read more »

Ivana
5 years ago

great tips! charging phone outside of the room is something I’ll definitely try out 🙂

Ula Archer
5 years ago

It’s a very important subject and your article is so insightful and full of different tactics! I also try to be more intentional about how I use electronic devices and social media. I try to make them my tool, serving me and not the other way round – that I’m a slave, I’m serving “them”. What works for me the best is using social media and email almost only on the laptop, not on mobile. I use it more intentionally now. And because my phone serves me mostly for taking fast notes and for communication, I could switch it to… Read more »

Nina | Lemons and Luggage

I recently discussed this with my partner. I mainly use social media to stay in touch with family and friends or to work on my blog so there are usually specific things I use it for. For example, when I’m at work I don’t bring my phone, and when I’m on my laptop I don’t touch my phone either. I also seem to react to social media differently than many other people. I use it at night to make me sleepy and in the morning to slowly wake up, lol!

Kelsey
5 years ago

I love this list! I have my notifications on my phone, but I never thought of setting an auto-responder to let people know I’m slow to respond to text messages. That’s brilliant! I’ll need to play with my phone to figure it out. I do have a question: as a blogger, do you find it harder to balance social media when you know you need to be promoting your posts and networking? I’ve only been blogging since the beginning of January, and I’ve noticed a huge uptick in my time on social media. I’ve been struggling to find a balance… Read more »

Heather @ The Pennywise Playbook

LOVE the hairband idea!!! How many times do we pick up our phone just because we’re bored, can’t sleep, or there’s a brief pause in conversation?! I wrote a blog post recently called 14 Ways to Practice Self Care When You Have No Money, and one of them was a tech detox. I didn’t get into this level of detail though, so this is great! I’ll link to this article in the comments on mine. xo

https://www.thepennywiseplaybook.com/14-ways-to-practice-self-care-when-you-have-no-money/

Alexa
5 years ago

This is a great post! I think the whole world should read it! I am very intentional about not letting my electronics get in the way of family time. It feels so much better to be with family than to be on an electronic device. I think the hair band trick is a great idea too!

Becca
5 years ago

This is a great post which some really actionable and simple suggestions. I think I’ll start with the notifications. Makes a lot of sense.

Samary
5 years ago

Perfect timing! Great tips!

Erica @ Coming Up Roses

This has so much great information about how social media impacts us. It really can have such a negative impact on our mental health and our productivity. Great tips for detoxing!

Hannah@LilyandThistle
5 years ago

I just got done taking a whole year off of both Instagram and Facebook. I accomplished SO MUCH! I did miss interacting with friends/family but it helped me see how much time I could have and really boosted my confidence in many areas of my life. I was surprised by that. I’m back on for blogging/illustrating reasons and I’m shocked at how quickly I got sucked back into the vortex 🙂 This was a GREAT!!! reminder to me that I need to start being intentional again. THANK YOU!!