Digital Detox Gift Ideas - from £0 to £500+

The December pre-holiday period is officially one of the most stressful moments of the year. People are running around buying presents that mostly won’t be used. If, like us, you love connection but hate the rush, consider gifting yourself or your loved ones something truly memorable - a digital detox experience.

We’ve put together a few ideas, from £0 to £500, to help you give meaningful, calming, and memorable gifts this year.

1. Under £5 

• A handwritten postcard sent by real post. I have a friend who’s sent me one every Christmas for years — first when she was single, and now from her whole family. I treasure all of them.

• A pack of non-digital playing cards

• A pocket notebook (Field Notes-style) for mindful journaling

• A “phone-free morning” coupon you design yourself for your partner.“This coupon entitles you to one fully phone-free morning. I’ll take care of the logistics: reminders, encouragement, and a cozy, calm start to the day.”(And make sure you deliver on the promise!)

2. Under £10

• An alarm clock. One of the best ways to start a digital detox. Keeping your phone out of the bedroom has been shown to improve sleep (and even your sex life). 

• A simple sand timer to use during focused work sessions

3. Under £20

• A physical wall calendar for analogue planning

• A mindfulness colouring book

• A monthly subscription to a digital detox app (Unpluq, Opal, Forest)

4. Under £50 

• A high-quality sleep mask

• A voucher for the 5-day Attention Detox Challenge — a fun, gamified programme teaching neuroscience-based techniques to handle digital distractions. Winners can receive partner prizes such as Unpluq annual subscription, a fancy alarm clock Mudita Harmony or even Mudita Kompakt phone.

5. Under £300

• A weekend retreat pass (yoga, mindfulness, meditation) or a one-day digital detox experience

• A high-end analogue watch so they stop checking the time on their phone

• A screen-free e-ink tablet for note-taking

• An analogue / low-tech phone (Mudita, Punkt, Light Phone, Nokia 2660 Flip)

5. Under £500 

• A digital detox cabin stay (Logout Live Now, Unplugged, Offline Club, etc.)

• A guided forest-bathing experience

• A “no-WiFi” countryside B&B weekend

• A spa voucher with a phone-free zone

6. Over £500

Book yourself (or your friend) on a writer's retreat in Spain

Free options: 

• Invite them for a phone-free walk

• Cook a dinner together and collect phones at the door

• Offer babysitting so they can have a screen-free evening

• Help them uninstall unused apps or clean up their phone from unnecessary photos (especially if they are your older relatives)

• Leave them a voice note instead of texting saying how much you care about them - or better yet, come over and give them a big hug!

Have a peaceful pre-holiday period!

Anastasia - director, and the rest of Consciously Digital Institute