Practising Digital Detox
There is life beyond the screen. A lot of people are so immersed inside the screen of their devices that almost their whole lives revolve around their screen - more like living a digital life. You will be surprised how some people are not even aware of their environment simply because they are caught up behind their devices. How weird is it that the device that has connected people with the rest of the world is still the same thing separating them from the people that are around them. Ironically, the more you are connected to your devices - phones, tablets, laptops, television, etc, the more you are disconnected from reality and from the real world around you. This is the need to take a digital detox once in a while. That is, taking intentional and conscious break from your digital devices so as to connect to the real world.
One of the things that I have observed is that no digital interaction can beat real world relationship. This is because you will tend to feel humans and humanity in real world. I am not saying that you should reject digital technology, but you have to learn how to strike a balance and then know when to move from online to offline and experience the world around you. The amount of time that an average human spends behind their screen is becoming increased as technology advances, especially social media technologies. As technology is welcomed and as it is also making life easier and more convenient, it also has its downsides - which includes reduction in face-to-face relationship with people, mental anxiety, sleep disorders, etc. So you need to know when to take a digital break to reset yourself.
You will be surprised that some people are becoming lonely by the day, which has also led some to depression, even with their online presence and their so-called digital friends. What I have observed is that some of the people you relate with online only show you the part of them that they want you to see. You may see some people showing off some very expensive lifestyle, and when you cannot afford it, you may begin to feel depressed that you cannot live up to what you have seen online. What a lot of people do not know is that some of these are just fake lifestyle.
After you have been exposed to all these digital presence, you need to take a reset once-in-a-while through a process of digital detox. Having your eyes focused on the flare from the screen of your devices for long is not particularly healthy for your eyes. Some people also go on earphones and earpieces for long, which can lead to ear challenges. So by taking a digital detox, you also rest your eyes from too much screen exposure, and then you rest your eyes from digital noises, and on the overall, you rest you brain. It does not mean staying offline or disconnected for weeks or months. Even the short breaks that you take on intervals can do you a lot of good. You can even decide to take a tech-free weekend and try to reconnect with your surrounding environment, and you will be surprised what you have been missing.
I have a tech friend who works remotely with his laptop. Weirdly enough, he could stay indoors for 1week straight without stepping out from his house. Just code, eat, sleep, code, and repeat the process. He does not relate with neighbours and with his environment. A day came when he had very serious health emergency that lasted for close to 2 days straight and no one knew because he was totally cutoff from his environment. He got lucky to have survived. But if, at least, he had been relating with his neighbours, they will know that something is wrong is they do not see him for 1 day, and they will come to his rescue.
As you spend time behind your screens, also try to balance things up by also taking time to relate with the people around you and with the world around you too. There are things you would only learn and feel from the real world experience. The effects of the human-to-human relationship in the real world is without question, and it cannot be replaced by social media or digitalization. Interpersonal relationship is one of the things that strengthen our humanity. Always remember that there is life beyond the screens.
Thanks for reading
