Top 10 Lessons from 60hrs of Digital Detox

Recently, I unplugged from technology for a period of 60hrs to focus on my health & reconnect with myself.

As always, the experience was rejuvenating, refreshing & transformative.

Today, I wanted to share my top 10 lessons & reflections from this 60 hr ‘Digital Detox’ journey:

1.      Pre-Digital Detox

a.      ‘Communication’. You shouldn’t suddenly disappear from your tech without communicating it to people in your life. I used my WhatsApp Status & Profile Photo to communicate that I was taking time away from Tech to focus on my health. If you don’t communicate, you might constantly feel that ‘someone is trying to reach out’ & I need to be ‘connected’. But, I had that sense of relaxation that I’ve communicated & can be at ease.

b.      There is no ‘right’ way to do a Digital Detox. You should do a Digital Detox the way it feels right for you & your health. What you want to do during your Digital Detox should be dictated by why you want do it, your values & what gives you happiness. Each & every one of us has a different version of it & hence a different version of Digital Detox. For me it was reading books & sipping coffee in my balcony & spending time reflecting on life.

2.      During- Digital Detox

a.      The real luxury in life is not money but time, presence & savoring each moment. The 60 hrs honestly felt like a month. Time was going away slowly & I was able to fully cherish & savor each & everything from meals to reflection to nature to time with family etc.

b.      Resistance- You won’t adhere to your Digital Detox if all of your devices are always in front of you. I put my mobile phone in the other room. The idea here is to put your devices away from your sight so that you are not distracted by your tech. To give you an analogy, If you put junk food or cookies in front of you for long hours, you are bound to eat it. Right? Thus, Keep the cookies (‘Tech’) away from you so that you don’t eat it & stick to your Digital Detox.

c.      You realize the ‘JOMO (Joy of Missing Out)’ in life instead of ‘FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)’. I haven’t cherished sipping that cup of coffee in my balcony with bird chirping & that heavenly coffee smell in a long time. I realized the Joy of missing out instead of constantly being worried about work & someone reaching out to me.  

d.      You don’t do a Digital Detox without some form of planning. Otherwise you might break your Detox. When I started my Detox, I had a list of things in mind I wanted to do but no ‘pressure’ to complete it as in a ‘To do List’. This included books, reflection, memories, family time, meditation etc.

e.      Life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We all need consistent breaks to rejuvenate & reconnect with ourselves. If you don’t take breaks, you will burnout. You will not fall behind  in life & work if you take these breaks but you will win the marathon in the longer term if you take these breaks

3.      Post- Digital Detox

a.      Digital Detox is not a solution to your Screen time & Digital Wellness Problems but a good way to reflect on it. I realized my triggers to my screens. For e.g, I realized my top trigger for using tech ‘was to be productive’ at each & every point of time to make the most of my day. This was something I needed to work on.

b.      You don’t need to come back to all of your social media platforms & tech all at once otherwise you might feel overwhelmed. You should join back your platforms gradually and slowly. A car doesn’t go from 0 km/hr to 100 km/hr immediately. Right? It takes time to gain that momentum. Similarly, you need to give yourself that time to get the momentum back.

c.      Self- Compassion. It’s important to be kind to yourself be it in life & your journey. During this 60 hrs journey, there was a time (after 40 hrs) when I broke my detox to watch 1 hr of Cricket match but that’s okay. We all make mistakes & its okay to be kind to yourself J !

In conclusion, this experience felt like someone had charged my batteries to a 100%. It gave me the resilience & energy to tackle the new week with a sense of enthusiasm so that I can complete the marathon.

Have you ever tried a Digital Detox? What has been your top learning’s from it? Would love to have your thoughts in the comments section below.