Digital detox: how to disconnect from the Internet

Reading. Cooking. Listening to music. Lazing around. Everyone can choose their own technological diet with many benefits for the body and mind.

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digital detox

The best time for a digital detox is undoubtedly summer . Taking a break from electronic devices is important , especially smartphones and PCs, with which we're constantly hyper-connected to social networks.

The excessive use of these devices has a huge impact on our ability to concentrate . They significantly increase anxiety and stress levels and certainly don't facilitate rest. This is especially true because today we are so completely dependent on them, even structuring our daily lives around them.

A digital detox , just like a weight loss diet , is the best way to reduce Internet addiction , with all its negative consequences.

There's no moment of the day when, for most people at least, they don't interrupt their usual activities to check their phone, check the number of "likes" they've received on social media, and interact with others via WhatsApp.

Your smartphone is the last thing you look at before bed and the first thing you reach for when you wake up in the morning. And it's obvious that your health is also affected. Your eyesight and skin are constantly threatened by the blue light emitted by these devices, and your skull undergoes a slow transformation, as your head is constantly tilted downward, looking at the screen.

digital detox

Symptoms of Internet addiction

Excessive cell phone use has also given rise to many phobias, such as the fear of missing an online conversation or what's happening online (so-called "nomophobia"), but also isolation when in company or the syndrome whereby one believes one's cell phone rings when in reality this hasn't happened.

Online life seems to have become a natural extension of offline life, with no clear distinction. Work productivity declines, and physical fatigue takes over. This makes it absolutely essential to detox from these activities, which are detrimental to our physical and mental health.

What is digital detox?

Taking a break from social media and, in general, from the use of electronic devices that keep us constantly online, becomes an essential need.

“ Digital detox ” is the expression used to refer to the period of time spent away from social media, leaving aside all the devices that make the relationship with various technologies too pressing.

If you don't want to resort to drastic solutions like staying in " digital detox hotels " (mountain huts but also luxury resorts, where you completely disconnect from all online activities and engage in manual tasks, such as cultivating the land).

You can also simply take a real vacation and choose to change your daily routine.

How you do it

Anyone who wants to embark on a detox from social media and electronic devices must find a good motivation within themselves.

This can be expressed by spending time with family , friends , or staying in a place where nature reigns supreme. The time dedicated to digital detox should never be less than 24 hours. Obviously, the further away from electronic devices, the better.

smartphone and PC detox

How to unplug from technology

Switching off is the only way to truly escape this harmful routine. Breaks should be long enough to avoid succumbing to negative temptations. Reading , engaging in manual activities , and taking long walks are all exercises that help you "heal."

Of course, it's not easy to completely unplug. Therefore, the process of distancing can also happen gradually, perhaps by giving yourself more and more time each day to dedicate to yourself rather than checking social media via cell phones or computers.

Distancing yourself from these devices, turning off your cell phones and computers , and being offline for a while means giving more space to creativity . Cooking, drawing, cleaning, listening to music : anything that brings about beautiful and pleasant sensations can be an excellent alternative.

At a certain point, having an electronic device becomes superfluous. The coronavirus epidemic has certainly only exacerbated digital hyperconnectivity. Data on gigabyte consumption during lockdown has confirmed the excessive use of cell phones. It is now even more important to break out of this "loop , " aware that the advantages of digitalization cannot erase the risks associated with its excessive use.

digital detox

Benefits

The benefits of a digital detox, just like any weight-loss diet, are gradual. But they become visible very quickly and intensify over time. Here are the most significant ones.

  • Si reduces anxiety and a more relaxed state is achieved;
  • Increase thepositive energy during the day;
  • Negative effects on vision are reduced;
  • Increase the creativity, the concentration , productivity;
  • Sleep improves, drastically reducing night awakenings;

Digital life and loneliness

A digital life, overly dependent on web-related technology, simply worsens our psychological and physical condition and pushes us toward loneliness. The most obvious harms are:

Italians and Internet addiction

Some numbers are very significant in describing the dependence of Italians on the Internet :

  • They are Each Italian spends approximately 6 hours online per day.
  • Il 98,5 percent of Italians are active on at least one social networks.
  • 30 percent of parents use their smartphone to calm their baby in the first year of life,(highly practice not recommended by experts e harmful to the child's cognitive development).
  • 70 percent of parents use it Smartphones to calm children from the second year of life.

We must, therefore, pay greater attention to the obvious short- and long-term damage caused by electronic devices and learn to use them in the healthiest and least harmful way possible.

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