5 Reasons to do a Digital Detox Course

23 Oct 5 Reasons to do a Digital Detox Course

This past September we launched our very first digital detox course! For years now we have been advocating the need to switch off from the online world and rebalance our digital habits. During lockdown, this was amplified around the world as we relied on tech so much and many more people recognised their need to log off. 3/4 of Americans, when asked during the lockdown anyway, said that they would take a digital detox after they got let out. If you are regularly entering a doom-scroll-hole, losing time due to digital distraction, anxious about switching off from work, unable to take a proper break or stressed about by comparison culture on social media, then you too need a digital detox.

We heard the call for help from far and wide and built this course to fill the void which previously our talks, retreats and in-person workshops would have. This way we can reach even more people and help those all over the world.

Knowing you need to change your digital habits and achieving that goal are very different things. Our course, with its clear structure culminating with a guided digital detox to suit your life, is the perfect way to make that step and ensure that you can stick with it.

Here are some of the things you will get out of the course, and the reasons you should take it instead of going it alone:

#1 Learn about the ways we are addicted

For the first four weeks of the course our founder and host of the course, Tanya Goodin, will teach you all the ways that tech companies ensnare us, and how that has impacted us. From using the psychology of slot machines in ‘pull to refresh’ to randomising rewards in many social media apps, Silicon Valley is full of clever people keeping us logged on (as Tanya wrote about in her review of the Social Dilemma on this topic). Armed with all this intel you will find it easier (though by no means easy!) to stop when you begin to lose time, notice the addictive quality of the tech, and switch off.

#2 Tips on how to rebalance your life

Nebulous ideas such as ‘switching my phone off more’ are incredibly difficult to stick to. Those resolutions are often gone within the hour, let alone the week. Our course on the other hand is full of practical hacks to help you interweave your digital decluttering into your daily routine, reaping only the benefits.

#3 Regain control

Phones are addictive. It’s not our fault that our lives are becoming more and more dictated by them, and that even though smartphones are barely a decade old we can no longer leave the house without one. This course will help you to take back that control you gave to your phone, and let you control your life and choices around tech and digital wellbeing for once.

#4 Connect with a community of like-minded people

There is a comments section attached to all of the content in the course and we encourage the students to get involved. You can ask questions, offer advice or generally discuss how things are going for you and meet a whole new community of people who want to log off too.

#5 Take a guided detox

At the end of the course, for the last two weeks, you will take a guided digital detox. This is supported by the members of the Time To Log Off team, as well as other students. Though those two weeks, you can use the information you have learnt and the practical tips you have picked up in a practice run in your real life. This way you can decide what works and what doesn’t, bounce ideas off other students and end the six week course with a clear idea of how digital wellbeing and logging off will best suit your individual lifestyle.