My Digital Detox Experience – Peter

Our Digital Detox Experience testimonial series provide an opportunity for our retreat guests to describe the positive experience they have had logging off. We hope that their stories will inspire you to consider a digital detox of your own. First up is Peter, who is a self-confessed smart-phone obsessive!

“The digital detox retreats mean I get my attention span back”

“I’m on my smart phone all the time … I have it in my hand whilst I’m walking down the street … I’m constantly looking at the screen; my attention span is completely shot.” This is a familiar story – not just for those that participate in our retreats, but for many people all across the country. But Peter recognises the positive effect that taking time away from screens has had on his life: “this is why these retreats are so important to me; because they mean I get my attention span back. Even three days without a phone means I can go back to work and for a good couple of months my head’s straight again.”

“I didn’t want to get my phone back at the end”

Many people don’t think that they will have a chance of lasting a week without their phone. Peter says how he “only planned to do three days [on our retreat in Italy]” but he ended up staying the whole seven days and didn’t want to get his phone back at the end! This isn’t unusual. Even though technology is essential in the modern world of work, a lot of those who take part in our digital detox retreats don’t want to go back to their normal lifestyle of 24/7 tech use.

“You have deeper conversations with people”

“You get your concentration back, you can think straight and you have deeper conversations with people.” This is one of the most common responses we get from people at the end of our retreats. They are amazed at the quality of conversations that they have had during their time digital detoxing. Spending time with likeminded people is a really great way of improving your mental health. On our retreats we organise a number of activities but also let you do your own thing at times. There really is something for everyone. “It’s something I’m now going to do every six months … I would recommend it to anyone that has a problem with overusing devices.”