Do you find yourself browsing through Facebook or Instagram (yet again) instead of working? Does your mailbox look like it will take a couple of years to answer all those senders? Do you get irritated by colleagues or friends staring at their mobiles in a meeting, and yet find yourself doing exactly that?
It might be time to declutter your digital life (you can take this little test to check how addicted you are). I’m going to share with you a simple framework that will help you structure your digital detox. Mix and match these three key principles to design your ideal digital detox - time management, space management and self-management. Time management Time management means establishing a certain timeframe around your digital activities. This allows you to be proactive, rather than reactive, and have control over your agenda. This is especially helpful to manage your emails. The best thing to do with emails is to check them at a specific time during the day, and never ever first thing in the morning. Don’t keep your mailbox open all the time with notifications on. Multitasking is a big myth that has now been debunked by science. When we get distracted by one thing, it takes our brain some time to concentrate on the previous task, and the more we get distracted, the more time it needs to resume. So unless you do both things unconsciously, you cannot multitask – and you really don’t want to read your business emails unconsciously! The same thing with multi-screening (i.e. using phone/laptop/iPad simultaneously) or opening several tabs in your internet browser at once. Unless you absolutely need to have several screens/tabs opened for one particular task, keep only one to avoid distraction! If you suddenly have the most brilliant idea about a different subject while working on something else, do not rush to open another tab and check it online. Instead, write your idea on a piece of paper and get back to it once you’ve finished the first bit. The key idea of time management is that you take control over your time, and decide when to respond, rather than being dragged into communication when you need to do something else. So unless you are waiting for an absolutely vital call or email (and vital things really should NOT be communicated by email anyway), try to resist looking at your phone immediately after a notification/message comes in. Delay checking it for 30 seconds, then for 2 minutes, then for 5, 10 – and watch your reaction. This will give you an instant sense of control over your life. Build up your practice over time, and you'll discover that your productivity has increased! Another way to increase your productivity is to switch off altogether for at least an hour every day during a particular time or activity. This is what Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, does during his dinner time. You could also try to go to a friends’ party and leave your phone in your coat by the entrance – and check what it feels like to be fully present with people you care about just for an hour.
If you tend to work late, try setting up a particular "finishing time" and create a little routine around switching off your devices around that time. Make it as formal as possible. Our brain loves rituals and if you introduce one, it will be so much easier for you to stick to your routine. For instance, if you work with a laptop, you can symbolically put it at a particular time in the drawer, close it with the key and walk around it three times before switching off the office lights. Might sound silly, but it's very helpful for your brain to unplug.
When introducing time management, it’s really important to remember to manage expectations of others. If a client or your boss are expecting you to be online 24/7, you need to set up the boundaries around that and tell them when you are going to be available, and when not. Do not unplug without telling them anything – although it sounds reasonable, you’ll be surprised how many people think other people have the same digital behaviour expectations as they do, and get problems because of miscommunication. Space management To boost your digital detox, put boundaries around where you use technology. For instance, no technology is allowed into my kitchen – this way I am resisting to look at the screen when I’m eating. In some companies, when meetings are happening, all participants are asked to stack their mobile phones face down one on top of the other at the table, so that nobody gets distracted. It’s a great idea to have a “technology free” zone in your office, where conversations can happen and creativity is more likely to flourish. Do not keep your phone or computer near your bed if you want to cut off your digital consumption (which means you have to get a proper alarm clock – try that, it’s fun!) If you do, it’s inevitable that you end up online much more than you anticipated. Our will power resource is very limited, and you can't only rely on it to resist the temptation to check your friends' feed. The best way not to eat too much chocolate is not to keep it at home, and especially in your bedroom. The best way not to spend hours browsing is not to have your device near you, especially when you are half-conscious because you are almost asleep. Perhaps something that will motivate you keep your iPad outside your bedroom is a piece of research that shows that the couples who keep iPads in their bedrooms tend to have no or very little sex – so if you want to have a proper love life, leave your devices far from your bed! Self-management An average person checks her phone about 150 times per day. How many of them does she actually need to check it? We often check our emails or social networks not when we really need to look at them, but when we want to escape from negative feelings. Scientists have shown that people who have traits of depression tend to spend more time reading emails and watching online videos than an average person. So when you are reaching out to check your email again, stop yourself for a second and be honest about the real reason you are doing this. Do you just feel lonely and want to check if somebody needs you? Is there a better way to satisfy this need, perhaps by calling a friend? Self-management is useful to take conscious breaks from working on the computer. An average human being is able to concentrate on a particular task for about 40 minutes, and after that his attention gets distracted. So do incorporate 5-minute breaks into your daily digital routine – stand up, go talk to colleagues, drink some tea – it’s important that you switch to something completely different. Mindfulness/meditation practice and/or any form of physical activity also can help a great deal to self-manage your digital behaviour, because they tend to keep you in the present moment. So next time you feel you are getting overloaded by information, it might be a good idea to do 10 squats, or close your eyes for a couple of minutes and concentrate on your breath and body sensations. The urge to check what’s new online will fade away. 
Do you feel like doing a proper digital detox?
The next 6-weeks online digital detox course to help you declutter your digital life is starting on the 10th August. Early bird price available until the 25th July, so sign up now to save some money! Looking for practical tips on a balanced digital lifestyle?
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PODCAST
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Listen to the full interview with Dr Michelle Blanchard on how modern technology can help you be healthier in Consciously Digital podcast section, where we cover the following questions:
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Looking for practical tips on a balanced digital lifestyle?
We at Consciously Digital™ are doing exactly that - helping people reclaim back their agendas and overcome digital distractions.
Sign up for free monthly tips newsletter below!
We think that less is more, and so will send you only ONE email per month. You can also rest assured that we will never share your email with anyone. You've got enough distraction in your life already.
We at Consciously Digital™ are doing exactly that - helping people reclaim back their agendas and overcome digital distractions.
Sign up for free monthly tips newsletter below!
We think that less is more, and so will send you only ONE email per month. You can also rest assured that we will never share your email with anyone. You've got enough distraction in your life already.
“I need you to talk to my husband”, a girlfriend said the other day. “He keeps saying that he wants to get an old Nokia with no internet on it, but has just ordered a new iPhone”. As a coach, I don’t work with anyone unless they come on their own free will, but my friend’s concern raises a very interesting point.
How do we end up getting online even if we don’t want to? And what is the tipping point when a curious internet surfer becomes a ruthless digital addict?
How your brain works
Neuroscience has a painful answer: the more we use technology, the more our brain structure changes, often in a negative way. Brain areas that get affected most by excessive usage of technology are; cognitive abilities, attention and processing of emotions. In other words, if you are a digital addict, you are less able to control your digital behaviour, or never get enough of being online.
According to scientists, a brain of an internet addict shows the same changes as a brain of a drug user. This is especially reflected on how the body “pleasure” hormone, dopamine, gets altered. Dopamine is a chemical produced in our brain that’s responsible for many activities and feelings, from mood and motivation to attention, sleep or - you guessed it - addiction.
How do we end up getting online even if we don’t want to? And what is the tipping point when a curious internet surfer becomes a ruthless digital addict?
How your brain works
Neuroscience has a painful answer: the more we use technology, the more our brain structure changes, often in a negative way. Brain areas that get affected most by excessive usage of technology are; cognitive abilities, attention and processing of emotions. In other words, if you are a digital addict, you are less able to control your digital behaviour, or never get enough of being online.
According to scientists, a brain of an internet addict shows the same changes as a brain of a drug user. This is especially reflected on how the body “pleasure” hormone, dopamine, gets altered. Dopamine is a chemical produced in our brain that’s responsible for many activities and feelings, from mood and motivation to attention, sleep or - you guessed it - addiction.
Your brain consists of cells called neurons that vary in size and shape, and have a little space between each other. Neurons “talk” to each other by releasing chemical substances, or neurotransmitters, that tell other neurons and the rest of the body cells what to do. Dopamine is one of the neurotransmitters, and is responsible for producing the sense of pleasure and reinforcement, rewarding the behaviour that allows us to survive and proliferate.
Whenever our brain encounters something that is unusual, it triggers our reward centre to release dopamine. It helps us pay attention to something that stands out and has therefore an important revolutionary impact! For instance, your brain gets instantly rewarded when it get stimulated by an unusual experience, bright colours or tasty food.
With dopamine released, your brain focuses excessively on what caused this stimulation. For your brain, spending time online becomes the most important and exciting thing possible.
An overstimulated brain
Drugs work by stimulating extra dopamine production and/or secretion or preventing the released dopamine from being absorbed by neurons, your brain cells. The more free dopamine circulates in the brain, the more excitement and anticipation you feel, expecting a higher reward - which is never high enough.
The same principle is used by creators of the most popular modern websites and apps. They use tricks to excessively stimulate your brain with new experiences, information, pictures, and trigger your reward centre, rewarding the brain for finding new interesting pictures, or get social approval (i.e. likes). There's a great book called Hooked, which describes creating habit-forming products in detail.
The problem with excessive stimulation is that when a brain gets stimulated too intensely, it starts protecting itself. To do so, it reduces the number of dopamine receptors to become less sensitive to dopamine. It's like as if you were constantly offered too much food, at the end of the day you stop eating anything and can't even look at it. So when you spend too much time online, the number of dopamine transporters or receptors gets reduced. A neuron still releases dopamine, but there are fewer “cars” to transport it to the next neuron and fewer parking slots to park into!
This means that if you keep taking the same dose of drug (or internet), you get less pleasure! You have to increase the dose just to feel anything - so you are likely to spend even longer hours online, looking for more “catchy” content and constantly being distracted. Excessive stimulation makes you feel great in the moment, but your brain pays a higher price later.
It’s been shown that internet addicts have higher reward sensitivity. Further scientific evidence suggests an increase in blood flow in the reward and pleasure centres of the brain of an internet addict, and a decrease in the areas responsible for hearing and visual processing of information.
What to do about it?
Do you suspect you might be an internet addict? Take this short test to find it out!
If you discover you're an addict, first of all, stop blaming yourself for not being productive or not being able to unplug. There's a whole industry studying how your brain works and developing products based on it to influence your behaviour. So most of your actions have already been programmed a long time before you've bought your iPhone.
Because your brain structure might have changed, you can't just quit. Our will power is limited, and we have too many temptations to resist throughout the day. Do you see now why my friend’s husband is finding it so hard to get rid of his smartphone?
In the next posts, I'll cover some of the most effective methods to stop internet addiction. IF you want to be the first one to find out about them, sign up for our free tips below!
Whenever our brain encounters something that is unusual, it triggers our reward centre to release dopamine. It helps us pay attention to something that stands out and has therefore an important revolutionary impact! For instance, your brain gets instantly rewarded when it get stimulated by an unusual experience, bright colours or tasty food.
With dopamine released, your brain focuses excessively on what caused this stimulation. For your brain, spending time online becomes the most important and exciting thing possible.
An overstimulated brain
Drugs work by stimulating extra dopamine production and/or secretion or preventing the released dopamine from being absorbed by neurons, your brain cells. The more free dopamine circulates in the brain, the more excitement and anticipation you feel, expecting a higher reward - which is never high enough.
The same principle is used by creators of the most popular modern websites and apps. They use tricks to excessively stimulate your brain with new experiences, information, pictures, and trigger your reward centre, rewarding the brain for finding new interesting pictures, or get social approval (i.e. likes). There's a great book called Hooked, which describes creating habit-forming products in detail.
The problem with excessive stimulation is that when a brain gets stimulated too intensely, it starts protecting itself. To do so, it reduces the number of dopamine receptors to become less sensitive to dopamine. It's like as if you were constantly offered too much food, at the end of the day you stop eating anything and can't even look at it. So when you spend too much time online, the number of dopamine transporters or receptors gets reduced. A neuron still releases dopamine, but there are fewer “cars” to transport it to the next neuron and fewer parking slots to park into!
This means that if you keep taking the same dose of drug (or internet), you get less pleasure! You have to increase the dose just to feel anything - so you are likely to spend even longer hours online, looking for more “catchy” content and constantly being distracted. Excessive stimulation makes you feel great in the moment, but your brain pays a higher price later.
It’s been shown that internet addicts have higher reward sensitivity. Further scientific evidence suggests an increase in blood flow in the reward and pleasure centres of the brain of an internet addict, and a decrease in the areas responsible for hearing and visual processing of information.
What to do about it?
Do you suspect you might be an internet addict? Take this short test to find it out!
If you discover you're an addict, first of all, stop blaming yourself for not being productive or not being able to unplug. There's a whole industry studying how your brain works and developing products based on it to influence your behaviour. So most of your actions have already been programmed a long time before you've bought your iPhone.
Because your brain structure might have changed, you can't just quit. Our will power is limited, and we have too many temptations to resist throughout the day. Do you see now why my friend’s husband is finding it so hard to get rid of his smartphone?
In the next posts, I'll cover some of the most effective methods to stop internet addiction. IF you want to be the first one to find out about them, sign up for our free tips below!
Looking for practical tips on a balanced digital lifestyle?
We at Consciously Digital™ are doing exactly that - helping people reclaim back their agendas and overcome digital distractions.
Sign up for free monthly tips newsletter below!
We think that less is more, and so will send you only ONE email per month. You can also rest assured that we will never share your email with anyone. You've got enough distraction in your life already.
We at Consciously Digital™ are doing exactly that - helping people reclaim back their agendas and overcome digital distractions.
Sign up for free monthly tips newsletter below!
We think that less is more, and so will send you only ONE email per month. You can also rest assured that we will never share your email with anyone. You've got enough distraction in your life already.
Today I had a privilege to ask Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, a few questions about the impact of technology on human behaviour and his own digital routine. You'd think that the person managing the largest global tech company should know a thing or two about balanced use of technology. But does he really?
“We are addicted”, Schmidt say. "We are going through a cycle, having invented a new toy - smartphone". Using it increase our serotonine level and builds addiction. Think what happens to you if you forget your phone for a day! Yet, Schmidt isn't very upset about it. He believes that technology adds more to our lives and takes away from it, "and each phone has a switch off button".
A balanced lifestyle
Switching off is one of two Eric's personal recipes to have a more balanced digital lifestyle.
He switches off his phone for 90 minutes daily when he has dinner. He admits though that sometimes doesn’t manage to do so, and even sometimes when he does, he still feels anxious. He uses both an iphone and an android to compare the two (and of course promotes android as having a bigger screen), and switches off both.
He adds that according to the research, young users who are online all day switch their phones at night.
His second recipe is to call people more. He notices however is that people stoped answering his calls or returning them, and send messages or emails instead (remember, we are talking about the Google’s chairman!). His proposal is simple - when people call you, call them back! If they email you, email them back. This is something he stresses out a lot in his own communication.
What's the future?
According to Schmidt, soon your smartphone will be making suggestions about your lifestyle - for instance, telling you that you should really not go to the Italian restaurant, because the data shows you don’t feel well when you eat there.
People and computers, according to Schmidt, will be splitting more and more, specializing at what they are good at: people are good at being emotional, creative, charismatic, and asking questions. Computers are good at remembering things and answering questions, thus keeping a good balance. Machines, for instance, will never replace teachers in the classrooms, as the latter require charisma, creativity and intuition.
What's your take on that?
Will the future be as bright as described by Schmidt or do you envision any difficulties with it?
“We are addicted”, Schmidt say. "We are going through a cycle, having invented a new toy - smartphone". Using it increase our serotonine level and builds addiction. Think what happens to you if you forget your phone for a day! Yet, Schmidt isn't very upset about it. He believes that technology adds more to our lives and takes away from it, "and each phone has a switch off button".
A balanced lifestyle
Switching off is one of two Eric's personal recipes to have a more balanced digital lifestyle.
He switches off his phone for 90 minutes daily when he has dinner. He admits though that sometimes doesn’t manage to do so, and even sometimes when he does, he still feels anxious. He uses both an iphone and an android to compare the two (and of course promotes android as having a bigger screen), and switches off both.
He adds that according to the research, young users who are online all day switch their phones at night.
His second recipe is to call people more. He notices however is that people stoped answering his calls or returning them, and send messages or emails instead (remember, we are talking about the Google’s chairman!). His proposal is simple - when people call you, call them back! If they email you, email them back. This is something he stresses out a lot in his own communication.
What's the future?
According to Schmidt, soon your smartphone will be making suggestions about your lifestyle - for instance, telling you that you should really not go to the Italian restaurant, because the data shows you don’t feel well when you eat there.
People and computers, according to Schmidt, will be splitting more and more, specializing at what they are good at: people are good at being emotional, creative, charismatic, and asking questions. Computers are good at remembering things and answering questions, thus keeping a good balance. Machines, for instance, will never replace teachers in the classrooms, as the latter require charisma, creativity and intuition.
What's your take on that?
Will the future be as bright as described by Schmidt or do you envision any difficulties with it?
Looking for practical tips on a balanced digital lifestyle?
We at Consciously Digital™ are doing exactly that - helping people reclaim back their agendas and overcome digital distractions.
Sign up for free monthly tips newsletter below!
Sign up for free monthly tips newsletter below!
We think that less is more, and so will send you only ONE email per month. You can also rest assured that we will never share your email with anyone. You've got enough distraction in your life already.
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Dr Anastasia Dedyukhina is a keynote speaker, author of Homo Distractus, professional coach and a pioneer of the Consciously Digital™ concept.
Having spent over 10 years and numerous hours in front of the screen promoting the benefits of digital for top media and advertising brands and witnessing hundreds of overstressed colleagues, Anastasia concluded she needed to change her lifestyle if she wanted to remain healthy.
She gave up her smartphone and now trains people on mindful use of digital technologies and claims she has never felt so productive and happy.
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