4 reasons why a digital detox is the best detox for your self care

03 Mar 4 reasons why a digital detox is the best detox for your self care

Plenty of us will attempt a detox at some point in our lives, aiming to cut out the things that we think are bad for us. These things are usually the obvious suspects; gluten, alcohol, sugar, meat. But have you ever considered that a digital detox might actually be the best kind of detox for your own self care?

We’ve got four reasons why a digital detox is the best detox you can do;

#1 A digital detox will help you sleep better

Sleep is something that most of us take for granted, but it seems that hardly any of us get a good night’s sleep any more. Most of us will put this down to one thing or another, whether it’s the cheeky glass of wine we had last night, or those sugary snacks we had on our desks – which can lead us to the idea of a alcohol or sugar detox. But have you ever questioned the role your digital devices play in disturbing your sleep?

It turns out that all our devices are affecting our sleep thanks to all the blue light they emit. Blue light is proven to suppresses the release of melatonin – a hormone that reduces alertness in order to help induce sleep.

By cutting back on blue light and regularly undertaking a digital detox, you’ll sleep better – much better in fact than if you had just given up sugar or alcohol.

#2 A digital detox will help you be more focused

Many of us are under the illusion that we can multitask, and that it makes us more effective at our jobs. But the reality is that only 2.5% of people can multitask effectively, and those that think they’re the best at multitasking are often the worst.

So multitasking is a myth, but how does a digital detox help you become more productive? Well, if you’re avoiding screens, you’re less likely to be distracted. On average, an office worker with a computer is distracted once every 10.5 minutes. Just being distracted by a notification, even if you don’t respond to it, is enough to severely distract you and those who are constantly being distracted from tasks by email or text messages suffer a similar effect on their cognitive processes as a missed night’s sleep.

A digital detox is the key to avoiding all of this. Placing your phone out of the way, in a drawer or in another room, can keep you free from distractions and more focused. Don’t think you can still be productive whilst doing a total digital detox? There are actually plenty of analogue tools you can use to help you be productive, whilst still avoiding your screens.

#3 A digital detox will benefit your mind AND body

One of the most common reasons we choose to undergo a detox is to cleanse our bodies, especially after a binge (or binge period, like Christmas). But what about our minds? How do we cleanse them?

Our devices can have a myriad of effects on our minds, whether it’s emotional effects, such as making us anxious and depressed, or purely physical effects, like changing the structure and function of our brains in regions that control emotional processes, attention, decision making and cognitive control.

However, periods of digital detoxing have been proven to help, for example staying off social media was shown to increase happiness in one particular study.

#4 A digital detox will add hours to your day

If you’re a vegan, or vegetarian, we’re sure you’ll understand how time consuming it can be to get the ingredients you need, as many stores don’t cater well to our needs. This can often result in us traipsing around trying to find things we need, resulting in less time doing the things we like.

However, a digital detox can actually add hours to your day. Adults in the UK spend an average of 8 hours and 41 minutes each day on screens, and a whopping 1.72 hours on social media alone. By reducing your time on devices, you’re freeing up time to do other things that you really love to do, rather than just mindlessly scrolling.

Four good reasons to consider giving up screens instead of alcohol or dairy next time you do a detox. Give it a go!