How to do a digital detox without ruining your life

Posted on by J.J. Hamilton

Recently, I sat down in the cinema to watch Toy Story 5. This franchise has been my absolute favourite since I was a youngster, sitting in front of my CRT TV to watch the original, with my toys, on VHS.

While I have my issues with the fifth instalment in the franchise, I did really enjoy it. In particular, I had a lot of time for its central plot line – all about the dangers of too much technology in our lives. All of this being broadcast while a child cried just a few rows away from me, only to be soothed by their parents by – you guessed it – an iPad. You can’t make this stuff up.

Nevertheless, it featured a really powerful message: we need to learn how to use technology responsibly, but it can’t ever take over our analogue lives.

I think that we could learn a lot from this about the importance of digital detoxing. Here’s how to do one without ruining your life.

The modern (mis)information diet

Social media apps have, quite literally, been designed to feed us whatever garbage it believes will keep us on their apps. Whether we’re looking at puppy videos or Tik Toks of the worst things imaginable, it’s all in aid of keeping us online and staring at our screens.

As a result, you’re so much more likely to be exposed to far more information than you’d ever possibly want to consume in any given day.

It was quite common, before the digital age, to only absorb news from a newspaper. You’d see people reading them on trams and buses to start their day, in the same way that we’d doom scroll the day away. While now we have much greater access to more sources of information, it also means that we’re more likely to be exposed to people masquerading as so-called experts, espousing potentially very damaging views.

And if the algorithm has been geared up to show you more and more of these damaging views, all in a bid to keep you on their app? Well, the minute you’re presented with some conflicting data, you’re just as likely to reject it outright and fall deeper into your misinformation pit.

Time to opt out.

Defining your low-friction digital detox

Having a digital detox doesn’t necessarily mean culling all of your online exposure. It simply means opting out of what you know isn’t good for you – social media can do some good, after all. There are three levels to this:

  1. Pick your messaging apps of choice and actively engage with your contacts on there. If you don’t feel compelled to spark a conversation with someone, it probably means that they’re a distraction on your contacts list.
  2. Delete anything that doesn’t bring you joy. I removed Facebook from my phone a while ago and I’ve not had Twitter since Elon Musk bought and rebranded it as X.
  3. App timers. While they can be overridden, being told that you’ve used up all of your time on Instagram is a great method of getting you off a source of time-sucking.

If that’s not enough, you can find my complete guide to stopping your social media addiction here.

Transition protocols

If this detox is something that you’re hoping to maintain full-time, it’s important that you set certain parameters that’ll help to get you there.

If you’re deleting certain messaging apps, pick your favourite people and tell them where they can find you to ensure that you don’t lose touch. One of my friends did this for me when he decided to leave WhatsApp.

If you’re deleting social media apps, and have been really invested in it as a platform, perhaps your social circle will benefit from a public post that informs them of your intentions, giving you a little more accountability for sticking to your decision, since people will know about it.

Finally, if you struggle with the act of doom scrolling itself, consider curating a healthier physical environment. Maybe you need to charge your phone in a different room, so that it’s not a distraction from your book.

While most advice that you’ll be given online calls for deleting all apps forever, I find this too draconian. It’s too impractical and can lead to a relapse far too easily. Stick to these solutions instead and watch as your screen time dramatically decreases – for the better.

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