Diary of my week on a digital detox.

Introduction

Last week I gave you a summary of what a digital detox entails and why you should do one. If you haven’t seen it, click here. Today I want to tell you how I got on with doing a digital detox for a week and explain my reasons for doing it.

My Reasons for doing a Digital Detox

I run a business called Life Organised, where I teach people about being more organised and mindful in their everyday lives. To stay on top of trends, I watch videos and read articles and books on all things related to decluttering, productivity and mindful living. Digital detox has come up multiple times, and I wanted to try it. I didn’t feel I had a particular issue with digital devices, social media or watching TV. Nevertheless, I wanted to experience what a digital detox would do to me.

I try and do challenges on my block twice a year. For example, last year, I tried a No-Buy Month in February. This was done more as an experiment, as loads of people were talking about it online. I didn’t do it because I have a shopping habit or financial problems. In the future, it might be worth trying a challenge with something I genuinely struggle with.

06.01.2023

In preparation for my digital detox, I announced it on Facebook on my private and public pages. I further asked my friends and followers to answer some questions to get a feel of what people make of digital detoxes. Unfortunately, I didn’t get many responses.

07.01.2023

I am announcing on Facebook about going on a digital detox next week. I jokingly let people know they could get hold of me by carrier pigeon or good old-fashioned phone.

08.01.2023

I announce that these are my last few hours on social media and that I better make the most of it. One of my friends thought I sounded like an addict. It wasn’t my intention.

I later announce that I have prescheduled posts for my business to let followers know I am not cheating when they see my posts pop up in their newsfeed.

I am lying in bed reading, and I check Facebook one last time.

09.01.2023

I threw myself in at the deep end on the first day of my official digital detox. Unfortunately, I haven’t done all that much in terms of preparation or reading up on it. I feel slightly lost.

I must check my emails daily while running a business. I did announce this on Facebook, so I wasn’t cheating. However, I only answered the most urgent ones rather than all that needed a reply. I only check emails once daily, so there wasn’t that big a change. (To see how I process my emails read this.)

In addition to email, I was working on my weekly blog post, so I had to google the odd thing or two.

After work, I read my book on recycling and check WhatsApp and Signal for the day as planned. I did have a bit of toing and froing with one friend, but only for about 5 minutes.

Throughout the day, I spend a lot of time coming up with ideas for posts on Facebook. Slightly annoying, aargh!

10.01.2023

I was out and about most of the day, so I didn’t get much chance to be online. However, I had to look up where I was going in the morning, so I used Google Maps.

In the evening, I checked my emails, WhatsApp and Signal.

My friend claimed she had seen me comment on a Facebook post. I got slightly worried for a minute, fearing someone might have hacked me. I decided against going to Facebook and checking out the incident. I can assure her I did not go on Facebook. Oh, and I did not get hacked. I checked at the end of the week.

I continued my evening by reading the news, I have an e-subscription to a daily newspaper, but you can download it and read it offline, which is what I did.

11.01.2023

Today I had to go on my website, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest to publish my blog, but I went in, pressed the publish button and left again.

Another full day at work, being out and about most of the day, so no using of social media or the internet.

When I got home, I was exhausted and watched a documentary about shopping in the USSR on YouTube. Oops, I wasn’t meant to do that! But hey, ho, I learned something about history!

12.01.2023

Today I had to use google a few times for work-related tasks. I also read some digital detox articles online.

In the evening, I arranged a meetup with friends via Facebook messenger. Rather than being super disciplined, we had a bit of banter about the books we were reading.

I also started a new book on my Kindle. I am not sure whether Kindle counts as digital. I don’t think it does, as it emulates actual paper, and you can’t go online. But what do you think?

I spent today and the past few days explaining to various people why I do a digital detox and what it entails, which leads me to talk more about social media and the web than I usually would.

13.01.2023

I do my usual marketing and promotional planning of my business, so I do have to go onto Meta business suite and tweet deck. Perhaps I should have planned this beforehand and done it before going on the detox. I never thought about it at the time. However, I did not engage in any group discussions or forums, which I usually do on my marketing day.

Today I spent the evening on google meet talking to my friend about literature and life. I probably wasn’t meant to do that, but she lives in Southampton, so a bit hard to meet in real life.

14.01.2023

Freezing and rainy day, so I read my book for most of it. I do, however, watch a YouTube video while eating dinner.

15.01.2023

Today is my last day of digital detoxing. I am out drinking tea with my friends for most of the day, so not online much.

Late afternoon I do my weekly review, and for this need to check google calendar and Sunsama, my to-do list app of choice.

16.01.2023

I announce my return to the digital world. However, I am not that fussed about returning online and quickly leaving Facebook again, as I find it quite dull.

Conclusion

Want to find out what I made of it all? Watch this space!

Let me know if you have ever done a digital detox or are planning on doing one, as I love to hear about other people’s experiences.