The Path to Digital Detox: Regaining Control Over Your Tech Habits

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#227 - Are you ready to reclaim control over your tech habits and change your relationship with your devices? This episode will serve as your guide to help you navigate the terrain of tech addiction.  The addictive nature of constantly being "plugged in" and the dopamine hit we get from endless scrolling on social media, has its consequences on our productivity and mental health. I talk about the impacts on our youth, who are exposed to technology and social media at an impressionable age. 

I give you tangible strategies to create healthier habits and methods to set boundaries with your devices and reduce screen time, to be more intentional with your tech use.  Are you ready to regain your time, boost your productivity, and enhance your mental health? Let's begin!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, my name is Teresa Hildebrand and this is
Organized Chaos.
We take a deep dive into livingwith intentionality, focusing
on what's important in our livesso we can truly feel our best.
It may feel chaotic at times,but with a little organization,
the right mindset and a ton ofself-love, we can still thrive.
Join me as we talk to otherbusy moms and experts who will

(00:31):
share tips and strategies tohelp you reach your goals.
Hope you enjoy this episode ofOrganized Chaos.
Now on to the show.
Hey friends, welcome to thisepisode of Organized Chaos.
Today we're going to be talkingabout the digital detox and how
to regain control over your techhabits.
Now we know that technology iseverywhere.

(00:52):
It's such a huge part of ourlives and technology can be
really positive.
It can make our lives easier.
It can connect us to peoplethat we wouldn't be able to
connect to.
But I want to talk today abouthow it can impact you negatively
and how the prevalence oftechnology in modern life can
have a really big impact on ourhabits and our well-being.

(01:15):
So we know that technology iseverywhere.
We use it for a lot ofdifferent things.
We always have something withus that has to do with
technology.
We have our phones, sometimeswe have smartwatches and we may
even have digital assistantslike Alexa.
So it does help us in ourday-to-day lives, right, but

(01:36):
when it becomes something thatwe're so addicted to, it can
impact us negatively.
So today I want to talk abouthow we can actually enjoy those
great things that technology canbring to us without it
negatively impacting our livesand our health.
We rely so much on technologynowadays, and I mean even think

(01:57):
about how we're conditioned touse technology at every turn.
So when was the last time youactually looked at an analog
clock to check the time?
We always have our phones on usor we have a smartwatch and we
always look at that, and I alsofeel there's a lot of pressure
to be plugged in, so to speak.

(02:19):
It feels like we always need tocheck in or we're going to miss
out on something.
There's also the dopamine kitsthat we get from checking in,
especially on social media.
So there's always this almostlike reward that we feel when
we're checking in, when we're onsocial media, when we're

(02:40):
scrolling through the feeds orlooking at all the reels.
Many times we do this becausewe're trying to escape a feeling
, we're trying to escape boredom, we're trying to escape sadness
, we're trying to escape some ofthese feelings that are
sometimes really hard to dealwith.
So we go to social media or wetune in to some other form of

(03:04):
technology, so we kind of notthink about those feelings and
not feel those feelings.
Now let's talk about a couple ofways this can affect your
productivity.
So just think about it.
Say, you sit down and you'rescheduled to work, you want to
work on a project, and then yousit down and you can't really
think about what it is that youneed to do.

(03:25):
Maybe you didn't plan ahead.
And then you start to thinkabout well, let me get some
ideas, let me go on social media.
Or you just feel like, oh, I'mjust going to take a break, let
me look at my phone, and thenyou realize that 30 minutes, an
hour has gone by and all you didwas scroll social media or do

(03:49):
some shopping.
And then you come back and youhaven't done anything that you
said you were going to do.
So obviously that's a form ofprocrastination and it affects
your productivity.
But also think about it when,let's say, you're doing this at
nighttime.
We know that looking at yourphone right before bed is the

(04:11):
worst for your sleep becauseyour mind is racing and you're
thinking about what you werelooking at or I don't know if
this is still true but the wholeblue light thing that can
affect your sleep.
So just think about how thereis now a lack of sleep, so that

(04:31):
is going to affect yourproductivity in the daytime.
But also think about howtechnology has actually
shortened our attention span.
I know that when I'm looking atsomething on social media, I
mean that's why those reels orthe TikTok is so popular,
because it's like this constantbarrage of really quick videos

(04:54):
and it's like we expect that nowin other areas of our lives.
So imagine trying to sit andfocus on work and you can't
because your attention span isso short now, because we've been
conditioned to do this whenwe're using technology.
And it can also kill ourcreativity because we're not

(05:16):
giving ourselves the space tojust be in silence and go
outdoors and go for a walk or doall those kinds of things that
really fuel creativity, becausewe're constantly attached to our
devices.
And there's a whole other issueabout mental health.
It can affect our mental healthto be on social media because

(05:40):
we're always looking at otherpeople's highlight reels and we
think that because they'reliving their best life, we suck.
I mean, that's a verysimplistic way to put it, but I
mean, even think about kids.
Nowadays, our kids are, youknow, they're still young
teenagers, so they don't reallyhave access to social media.

(06:02):
They have access to YouTubeYouTube kids because we want to
make sure that we have someguardrails on that, but there's
a lot of kids out there that arevery, very young, that have
access to social media and it'ssuper detrimental to their
mental health.
So, now that we've gone overhow we're super attached to our

(06:26):
mobile devices or technology ingeneral, let's talk about how we
can actually do a little bit ofa detox and I don't really like
the word detox, but I felt likeit captures the essence of what
I really want to talk about.
So, really, what a digital detoxis is reducing the excessive

(06:47):
time that you're on screen orthat you're on social media for
a period of time, and it'sreally to kind of give you an
ability to figure out how youfeel when you're not using
technology so much and then tostart creating better habits for

(07:07):
yourself, and it can make a bigdifference.
A lot of people will do thisand I mean it becomes such a big
deal that people actually haveto announce it.
Like if you ever go on socialmedia, somebody will say you
know, they'll announce thatthey're not going to be on
social media for a period oftime let's say, a week or two

(07:27):
weeks or whatever a month, Idon't know and it'll either
coincide with, like, a vacationthey're going to have or they're
just trying to really detox ina sense, and they have to tell
you that they're not going to bearound, at least on social
media, for a period of timeBecause, like I said, we've been

(07:49):
so conditioned to just seepeople online that it can be
weird if we don't see them.
So how do you do this?
How do you actually go througha period of time where you can
reduce the amount of use thatyou have, that you have with
technology?
So you know, some people can gocold turkey and then just stop

(08:13):
with it, and there's only somuch you can remove yourself
from technology becauseobviously, like I said, it's so
prevalent in our lives.
But I think that you know, maybespecifically with social media,
like you can reduce the timeyou're on and first what you can
see is like, how long are youon social media there are, you

(08:36):
know, on your phone is built inthat it will show you how much
screen time you've actually had,so that way you can actually
see it and it can be eye opening.
So the first step is toactually maybe even track how
much time you're spending oneven specific social media apps,
so your phone can tell you howmuch time you spent in every app

(09:01):
that you have on your phone or,in total, how much you've used
your phone, how many timesyou've actually looked at your
phone.
I mean, it gets really crazy.
So if you want to deep diveinto that like you can do that.
But I mean, just knowing cangive you a sense of okay, this
is kind of a problem, I need totake care of this, and you can

(09:23):
just reduce the time that you'reon and then just keep track of
that.
Or you could just be like I'mjust gonna have like these
boundaries that I'm gonna setfor myself, where, let's say,
I'm not gonna use my phone, orI'm not gonna have my phone when
it's dinner time or when I'mwith my family, and I'm gonna
keep it in a space where I knowI'm not gonna get distracted by

(09:44):
it, or I'm gonna, you know,dedicate certain times in the
day to actually check my phone.
It's gonna be a little bit moreintentional.
It's not gonna be this reflexwhere I just pick up my phone
and I don't even know why I'mdoing it, and then you could
just be more intentional aboutwhen you're actually gonna use
your phone where you know you dowant to go on social media and

(10:08):
just like waste time.
So you know you put it on yourcalendar that you're gonna have
a specific time during the daywhere it's just gonna be that
and then you feel like you'renot missing out, but also you're
setting that boundary whereyou're not gonna have that need

(10:28):
to go on your phone, even ifthere isn't really a reason to
do that, because it's just thishabit that you have.
Maybe you actually set up atime where it's the tech-free
daily time, that you don't usetechnology at all or you don't
use social media at all duringthat period of time.

(10:50):
So you know you can go eitherway.
You either dedicate some timewhere you know you're gonna be
on social media, or you knowyou're gonna be using some type
of technology and that's yourtime and you schedule it on your
calendar and then you can havea time where it's like no
technology, technology-free time, and that's how you set it up

(11:12):
for your day.
And I know this is gonna behard but it's worth trying
because it will help you kind ofregain control over the habits
that you have around your phoneand other technology.
I know that I am starting tohave a problem when I start to
get irritable, when I start toget moody and when I feel like

(11:34):
there's always like thesedistractions.
So I know my limits.
So you know, start there, likeknow your limits and know how
this is affecting you so thatyou can take action.
Okay, so I'm gonna wrap this upwith just a few tips that I
have that will help you withthis.
So if you want to actually gothrough some type of detox with

(11:57):
technology, here are some of mytips.
So, number one it's reallyimportant to have a place for
where you're gonna leave yourphone and I talk about the phone
a lot because it's so easy tojust carry around.
So a lot of these tips aregonna be like phone-related tips
.
So have a space dedicated foryour phone where you can

(12:18):
actually put it away and it'snot at your bedside.
So take away those chargersfrom your nightstand and put
them somewhere else so that youactually need to physically get
up to check your phone, becausesome of us will actually wake up
in the middle of the night andjust pick up the phone.
So not putting your chargernext to your bed is a really

(12:42):
good idea and a really great wayto kind of set that boundary
for yourself.
We usually put our phonechargers in our closet.
We actually have all of ourphones in our closet, like our
kids included.
They do not have.
They have chargers in theirroom, but that's strictly for
daytime and they can't leavethem in their rooms at night.

(13:04):
And we do the same.
We put them in the closet.
So we set that boundary forourselves and for everyone in
our family.
Number two is replace a habit ofgoing on to your phone with a
different habit.
Maybe you'll you can read a book, maybe you can go for a walk,
maybe you can even talk tosomeone in real life.

(13:26):
But I'll joke you aside.
Replacing the habit of being onyour phone with another habit
is a really great way to stickto this new habit.
And tip number three is you canuse technology to stop using
technology.
So what I mean by that is usingapps that actually keep you
from going on to apps on yourphone.

(13:48):
You can set it up in yoursettings where you can't use a
certain app during periods oftime, or maybe you just like
shut it off, where there arecertain days that your phone
won't go onto these apps orwebsites or whatever so you can
actually use technology to yourbenefit to keep you from using

(14:10):
it so much and actually createbetter habits.
Alright, that is all I have foryou today.
Take one of these tips andimplement them today and see how
that works, see how you feel,see if it actually helps you
with your productivity and, mostimportantly, with your mental
health.
Alright, I hope you guys havean amazing day.

(14:30):
Thank you for tuning in againand I'll see you next week.