Do Not Disturb: Digital Detox

Photo by Geralt from Pixabay

 This week, I focused on using two different modes on my phone as I practiced a digital detox. I decided to use Do Not Disturb during the day and Sleep Mode at night, which was inspired by the Control Your Tech use article. I have used DnD before during school or important events to keep my phone silent, but not necessarily for the purpose of less distraction. It felt realistic and simple enough to incorporate into my daily life, so I decided to use this as my digital detox! The difference in my productivity and stress levels was honestly bigger than I expected. In the beginning, I would check my phone a decent amount because I was worried about missing important notifications when I couldn’t immediately see them. But, it got more normal as the week went on and I enjoyed not feeling the urge to immediately check whatever notification my phone got, because many times they aren’t anything important anyway. I also enjoyed using sleep mode at night because it silences all calls and notifications, no matter what, unlike DnD, which can allow calls or texts through if people want to “notify anyway.” It helped me to truly stay off my phone once I decided to put it down for the night. I also saw a strong impact on my productivity, especially when working on homework. Without constant notifications distracting me every few minutes, I got into deeper, more consistent focus. I was able to complete my homework faster and with fewer mistakes because I wasn’t mentally and physically moving between my homework and my phone. I also found using sleep mode helped me to fall asleep faster because I wasn’t being woken up or distracted by the constant buzz of my phone. Oftentimes, before using sleep mode, I would want to know what the notifications were, and would try not to look, but in the end would check anyway and find myself mindlessly scrolling once I picked my phone up again. So having sleep mode this week was a nice change! I think this change influenced how I want to practice digital health in the future. Moving forward, I plan to continue using both modes. Do Not Disturb helps me improve my focus, and Sleep Mode helps me improve my sleep! This experience taught me that I rely on my phone more than I really need to, and that a lot of my distractions come from notifications I never thought impacted me that much. Setting boundaries made me feel more in control of my time instead of reacting to my phone every few minutes. Overall, this week showed me that reducing my notifications reduced my overall use of technology, too. It helped me focus more and get things done faster than I have before! It was a really nice change that I think I will use from now on!