Digital Minimalism & How to Take a Digital Detox

If I have to be honest, I'd say that this is one area of my life that I sometimes neglect or don't practice often enough, even with the few habits that I already try to implement. Most people these days rely on technology for a lot of things, so I personally believe that it's beneficial to keep our digital lives organized and streamlined so that we don't feel stressed or overwhelmed in this one area of life. 

Before I go on with my own personal checklist of habits, here are some questions to consider when it comes to the physical clutter of this one category: 

1. How many devices do you actually use and need in your daily life? 

2. Are there certain charging cables you're holding onto that aren't functioning anymore or go to a device that no longer works? 

3. Are you holding onto any outdated phone, tablet or computer models that you no longer use? 

4. How often do you allow yourself to step back from technology, and are you able to notice it when you rely on your devices too much?

5. How many apps do you actually use on your device, and can you identify any unused apps or ones that just eat up your time? 

Taking breaks from technology is hard- that is, unless you've already committed yourself to stop using it all together or have no interest in becoming more digitally connected. It's pretty much a cultural norm these days to have a smart phone, an Apple watch, some kind of computer or laptop and to be constantly adding new things to such devices so that we can stay connected to the outside world. The only thing you'll be risking in the process if you continue this game of keeping up is your sanity/mental health. 

I'll admit that while technology makes a lot of everyday tasks more simple and convenient, taking a break or detox from the online world is something that I too find to be difficult sometimes. However, this isn't to say that the task in itself is impossible to accomplish- it just takes a bit of will power and motivation. Here are some tips that I can recommend from experience:

1. Start small. If you have the habit of checking your phone either before bed or soon after waking up in the morning, take a moment to pause before you actually think to pick it up. This pause can go on for as little or as long as you'd like, whether it's 5, 10 or 20 minutes. If you want to be more ambitious, then of course, feel free to extend this to 30 minutes or an hour. 

2. Take advantage of the screen time features built into your device or on certain apps. This isn't something that I use often, but when I do, it really helps to put things into perspective. In addition to this tip however, you could also delete your browsing history to prevent that addictive build-up, and for mobile devices, you can easily remove the app all together to help create more friction if your addiction is from using a particular app.

3. Moving onto the actual clutter inside our phones, one tip that's really helped me is to categorize your most used apps into folders, and for any preset apps that you can't remove, keep those in their own separate folder in a different window of your screen. Most smart phones these days allow for organization customization and organization; you just have to take the time to sit down and become familiar with those features. 

4. How often do you go through your photos, music, phone log, text messages or email for anything that's unnecessary or no longer relevant? I personally have made a point to look through these things at least once a month. Our phones have a tendency to under-perform if there's too much memory (or clutter) and not enough white space, so be sure to prioritize that. One recommendation I'd make is if you're working with massive amounts of digital clutter, separate your time per day, starting with just one category of clutter. For example, if you take 20 to 30 minutes to just go through your photos from one or two years ago and continue on that path for the rest of the week, you can then move onto the next type of clutter within your phone or computer.  

As a bonus tip, one thing that I like doing that helps me visually is to only keep two rows of apps that I know I will use. This helps with keeping more of my wallpaper visible whenever I open up my phone. I just don't like the look of a bunch of mismatched apps that aren't organized by type, and because I have an Android, I like that I can colorize the different folders I have to make things look more visually appealing and streamlined. With all of this said, I hope these tips are helpful to you in some way. Thanks for stopping by and reading this post!