How to do a mini digital detox

Technology-free hours. Digital-free areas of the home. No 24-hour news. What to do if you have a tendency to compulsively scroll.

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digital detox
The average Italian checks their phone between 50 and 100 times a month. A good portion of these checks are pointless, a waste of time and concentration, resulting in increased anxiety and stress. We live in a time where a silent epidemic of technostress is taking hold. nomofobia (the fear of being isolated, without a cell phone), yet it takes very little to get into the habit of a mini digital detox. It has two advantages: first, we get used to using our electronic devices more intelligently and without waste, and second, we know well how we can, on any holiday, do a real digital detox.

Turn off notifications

It's notifications, and the need to constantly check them, that create the conditions for smartphone addiction. And among other things, each notification triggers the release of dopamine and contributes to slowing down, if not completely obscuring, our concentration.
Obviously, you don't need to delete notifications; you can simply select them (for example, by turning them off for a certain time slot, with the exception of certain people). The easiest, fastest, and most effective method is to enable "Do Not Disturb."

How to do:

  1. Go on Settings
  2. Seek “Do not disturb”
  3. Activate it and choose:
    • duration (from 1 hour, until tomorrow, and then from midnight to 7 am the next day)
    • exclude from deactivation only a small group of people with whom you need to be in constant contact
    • any exceptions (e.g. important calls)

On iPhone you can also find it as “Full immersion” (Focus).
On Android it can also be called “Do Not Disturb” or “Enhanced Silent Mode”.

The boundaries of the mini digital detox

Once you've established the time for your mini digital detox, make sure you follow these simple rules:

  • No social media (Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
  • No unnecessary notifications
  • Urgent calls only

Digital free zones

It's very important to choose a few areas in your home that are digitally free, but absolutely respectable.
These may be enough:

  • bedroom
  • dining room (first of all at the table when you eat)
  • a relaxation corner

You shouldn't check your phone in the first 30 minutes after waking up and 30 minutes before going to bed. And it's not a gun to put on the table while eating: remember that there's also a cell phone etiquette.

Alternatives to scrolling

If you tend to scroll compulsively, get into the habit of controlling this urge and replacing it with other things. For example:
  • listen to music or a podcast
  • read some pages of a book or newspaper
  • look out the window
  • take a short walk
  • take a hot shower
  • take slow breaths for 2–3 minutes

The information diet

There's no need to stay informed 24/7 or follow too many websites. So a mini digital detox diet is much easier than you might think.
  • Choose 1–2 trusted sites for daily information
  • Same thing for newsletters or podcasts
  • Avoid switching between apps
  • Give information a timetable, and don't become an all-news receiver.
  • Then turn off continuous notifications from news apps
  • When a topic or news item particularly interests you, try to delve deeper by selecting more than one information source.
The mini digital detox, once introduced, easily becomes a habit that helps you use technology in general in a more useful and less compulsive way.

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