4 reasons to make meals no-tech

We have all experienced going out to dinner with our friends or family and witnessed our loved ones glued to their phone, or even worse, we’ve been glued to our phones and ignored them the entire time.

Have you ever thought about banning all tech at the dinner table? Sounds easy right? Wrong. You’ll soon see your friends hiding their phones under the table to reply to that one text as if they’re back in the classroom hiding it from a teacher.

With the rise in digital addiction, many of us find it difficult to make all meals no-tech. But we have four compelling reasons that you should make all of your meals tech free.

#1 Using tech during meal times is rude

A recent pew research study showed that 62% of people think that it is not OK to use a phone when at a restaurant, and even more so during a family dinner, with 88% people thinking this behaviour is unacceptable. Using a phone, or any other device when at an intimate social situation such as meal can come across rude.

Taking the time to put your tech down and communicate with your friends and family will make you feel more connected and help bring you closer together – strengthening your real relationships, instead of your virtual ones.

#2 Using tech during meal times damages conversation

It is really easy to get distracted by our technical devices. That small push notification is a distraction enough, even if we don’t open and interact with it. The Pew Research study highlights that 82% of adults find that the use of technology during social situations hurts conversation.

Allowing your phone to distract you during meal times will result in you not focusing your attention on the present, which can result in you missing out on parts of a conversation.

#3 Using tech during meal times will distract you

We are all aware of how distracting tech can be. With the constant need to check if we’ve had a reply to our last text and the FOMO we get from not checking Instagram every hour, we often find that having tech with us throughout meal times leaves us feeling distracted from what’s going on right in front of us.

Multi tasking is a myth, and getting distracted by sending an email out whilst eating our breakfast before work isn’t improving our productivity at all. Sometimes removing all tech from our surroundings can give us a clear mind and push us to have a more productive day.

#4 You won’t appreciate your food if you’re constantly logged on

Rushing through our dinner to get to the living room in time for our favorite TV program is something we have all done, or even worse had our dinner on our lap whilst watching it. Not only are we distracted from socialising when tech is involved but we’re distracted from everything. You don’t get a chance to think about what you’re eating and how good it tastes, all that distraction can lead to a cold dinner and nobody wants that.

Banning tech from your meals in a small step in reducing your time spent logged on, and once you finally disconnect from your devices you’ll see how much you connect with the people around you and how much your productivity levels increase. Our digital detox retreats promote balance and show you how switching off every once in a while can have a positive outcome on your life.