Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the constant noise coming at you from your computer, smart phone, and television screens? Do you find it difficult to wind down at night? Are you guilty of checking your phone, or responding to emails in bed? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you might consider the benefits of a digital detox!
This week at The Raw Food Kitchen we tossed around the idea of a digital detox after it was discovered that we were all guilty of using our smart phones in bed at night… sometimes even after lights out.
The phone is also the first thing we reach for in the mornings – first checking the time, then scanning for new messages and emails, then scrolling through our Facebook and Instagram feeds. This is all before our eyes have even adjusted to the new day.
Being the self-confessed digital junkies that we are (as well as lovers of a good detox) we knew a week off would do us good. However none of us were prepared for just how challenging it would be.
White light and sleep patterns:
Research shows that exposure to white light at night suppresses the production of melatonin, which is the hormone that controls your body’s circadian rhythm. Melatonin is the primary regulator of your body clock, deciding when you are asleep and when you are awake.
The white light is the same light that gives your smart phone or tablet screen it’s luminescent glow. What we now know is that this light can disrupt your hormones for up to four hours after use. No wonder we weren’t sleeping that well and feeling grumpy!
When we posted the question to our Facebook followers last week asking the amount of sleep you were getting per night, most of you said six hours or less! This is far below the recommended 7-9 hours to ensure that you’re functioning at your best.
The rules of the detox
Seeing as most of us have to be online in order to earn a living, a complete digital ban was out of the question. Therefore the detox rules were that you could not use any digital device between the hours of 6pm and 9am the following morning.
Sounds easy enough. Let’s see how the week played out:
Day One
- Breeanna: Spent the entire day at the beach, and therefore needed to catch up on unanswered emails at night. Not a great start to the challenge. Will try harder tomorrow.
- Amanda: Found today hard as habitual reaching for phone without thinking until my boy told me off for it!
Day Two
- Breeanna: Failed miserably again… Needed my phone navigator to find a venue, and this was a necessity. Even if I had owned one of those hard copy road map books, I’m not sure I’d know how to use it. It also dawned on me that I had used my phone as an alarm clock this morning, which is breaking the rules. Will try harder tomorrow.
- Amanda: Terrible. Spent most of the day travelling so by the time I got home it was after Digital Detox time limit but had a coaching call that required me to be online as well as email catch up!
Day Three
- Breeanna: Mostly stuck to the rules… Aside from spending an hour on the phone at night with a friend. Another necessity as she lives interstate.
- Amanda: Not great today either, had to book flights late at night to take advantage of a sale deal after attending an event that saw me arriving home at 9pm. Up till midnight on the computer. Whoops.
Day Four
- Breeanna: Digital blow out! Planning for an overseas trip at the end of the year and friends needed immediate responses regarding dates of travel. These messages continued late into the night. Needless to say I did not sleep well. Will try harder tomorrow.
- Amanda: Today I managed to stick to the Digital Detox time restraints. Read a book in bed instead. Had the best sleep.
Day Five
- Breeanna: Travelling out to country NSW after work and needed the phone navigator again. I didn’t realise I’d come to rely on it so heavily just to get around!
- Amanda: Had meeting all afternoon in the city which lead to dinner out. Home late and addressing emails after 6pm.
Day Six-Seven
- Breeanna: Once out in the country the detox ran very smoothly. No laptop, no televisions, occasional phone usage throughout the day only. There’s something to be said for the country lifestyle, because it was here I had a full night’s worth of uninterrupted sleep – for the first time in months.
- Amanda: Due to an unexpected project pop up I was on the computer 10 hours each day. Needless to say I feel a little frazzled and stressed! Have invested in a grounding mouse mat and a Crystal Energy necklace to help my body cope with all the EMF. It would be fair to say I failed miserably at the Digital Detox!
The findings
The main problem with living in an instantly connected world is that people expect to be instantly connected to you at all hours of the day and night. If your friends, family, and colleagues expect immediate responses from you, then you will never be able to truly disconnect.
Our extremely busy lives also make it challenging to fit in everything we need to do these days within an 8 hour time frame.
This is what I personally found most challenging.
Setting stronger boundaries with regard to when people can contact you, as well as exercising a bit more self-control when it comes to checking devices is the best way to lead a more digitally balanced lifestyle.
It will also ensure your melatonin is being produced at the right times and you’re getting the amount of quality rest that you deserve. Definitely recommend picking up a good ol’ fashioned book to read instead of reading on a computer screen for a more rested sleep.
Newsflash: Check out this article that confirms Smartphones make us tired and unproductive!
How did you go on your Digital Detox? Have you any tips and tricks you want to share with us? How do you set digital boundaries? We’d love to hear from you below!
