How To Do A Simple Digital Detox Challenge. I woke up this morning to the sound of birds singing outside my window. It’s the first time I’ve heard them this year, and it instantly brought a smile to my face.
After a long, gray winter, it’s so nice to see signs of spring finally arriving. The days are getting longer and the sun is staying out later. It’s like the whole world is coming back to life again.
As soon as spring arrives, I always feel like cleaning everything from top to bottom. I open up all the windows to let in some fresh air, and I start throwing away old clothes, toys, and knick-knacks that I don’t need anymore.
It feels great to get rid of all that clutter and start fresh with a clean slate. Spring always seems like a time for new beginnings, and I can’t think of a better way to start anew than by decluttering my home.
But is the media and content you consume making you happy? Are you carefully choosing what you consume to make sure it positively contributes to your happiness and productivity?
- Our brains are creatures of habit! They love consistency and doing the same old routine.
- But this spring, let’s do things differently.
- I invite you to take on a digital detox challenge and give yourself the gift of shaking things up and clearing out some space.
Table of Contents
How To Do A Simple Digital Detox Challenge
1. Clean Up Your “Friends”
friend-cleansing your social media platforms can be a quick and easy way to declutter your digital space – and it’s something you should definitely do on a semi-regular basis. Although it might seem like a lot of work (especially if you’ve been on social media for years and have amassed hundreds of friends/followers), setting aside half an hour to go through your lists every few months or so will save you hours of time in the long run.
Scrolling through useless posts and photos from people you don’t even know/like can be a huge time-waster and, let’s be honest, it doesn’t make you feel good. So take some time out of your day to do a little friend-cleaning, it’ll be worth it in the end!
- Make a list of all the social media apps and websites you use.
- Go through each one and scroll through your friends and followers. If you follow anyone who makes you feel bad, makes you feel less-than-good, or is enabling your unhealthy digital behaviors (like an ex that you follow, or friends of the ex that you follow to keep tabs on said ex) – unfollow them.
- Breathe. It’s not a big deal. You’re not going to combust. They won’t even know that you unfollowed them.
Instagram-stalking can be emotionally taxing, but after a digital detox you might be surprised to find that most of the images are from people you love, or at the very least, don’t despise. Instead of feeling negative emotions like jealousy, shame, or apathy, you’ll be reminded of the friends you do have, and the life you aspire to live.
Use social media as a tool to surround yourself with images and people that inspire you to be the best version of yourself.
If reading status updates from a person, celebrity, or company doesn’t make you feel good – give them the unfollow.
Life is too short to keep subjecting yourself to the same diet of digital. Take back your time! Take back your energy!
2. Clean Up Your “Earbuds”
I love detective shows and podcasts. When “Serial” came out, I was hooked. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me, and I felt like I was stepping into a hidden realm that I never knew existed. I started listening to detective stories all the time, and it was a lot of fun at first. But after awhile, I started to feel a little “off.”
I started to feel anxious when the stories mentioned children. I felt even more paranoid when I was home alone or walking to my car at night. But I kept listening. The old saying about the frog in boiling water seems appropriate here. If you put a frog in boiling water, it will jump out right away. But if you put a frog in comfortable water and turn up the heat slowly, it will never know it’s being boiled.
I was surprised to find out that regularly listening to detective stories was causing me a lot of anxiety. I felt overwhelmed, stressed out, and constantly on edge. After taking a closer look at my podcast subscriptions, I realized that nearly all of them were either detective stories or about politics. No wonder I was so tense all the time!
I kept a few of my favorites from each genre and immediately started looking for something more relaxing to listen to. Now I have a healthy mix of history, self-development, mystery, and audiobooks read by my favorite actors. I feel so much better and less anxious overall.
The takeaway is that you should push yourself to do things that make you happy and feel good. It’s okay to break out of your routines sometimes and try new things. The things we listen to – music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. – have a big impact on our mood and how we see the world, so it’s important to be conscious of what we’re consuming.
3. Clean Up Your TV Habits
Netflix has become the ultimate procrastination tool for many people. It’s not uncommon for people to lose entire days or weeks to binge-watching new shows on Netflix. Even deciding what to watch can be a huge time sink! Scrolling through the endless options on the app, and all the show recommendations from friends that you’ve saved in the “Notepad” on your phone can take forever.
If you find yourself frequently saying “I don’t have time for that,” then this article is for you. It offers a solution that has the potential to change your life by giving you back countless hours.
We all consume various forms of media, whether it is audio, social, or visual. The key is to focus on consuming visual media that brings you enjoyment rather than draining you. This doesn’t mean that everything you watch has to be happy and light-hearted. It just means that it should be exciting and fill you up rather than draining you.
