The Life Changing Effect of Breaking Up With Your Smartphone

No, I'm not talking about throwing the (incredibly expensive) device in the trash! I'm talking about becoming more mindful towards your usage.

This post is about what reducing your use of electronic devices can do for your health.

Do digital devises pose a risk to our health? too much can. there are a lot of bad tings that our dependency on the digital universe can do... WiFi signals have a negative impact on our sleep quality, continued use can affect our posture, and a constant high volume can affect our hearing.

We all know the beneficial side to our digital devices actually give, access to our calendar, connection to friends and family on the other side of the world. There are so many good qualities - but what about our work-life balance, when does always being "on-call" become good for our health? the answer to that is never!

If you take a moment to look up and around you in a coffee shop chances are most people will have a smart phone, tablet, or laptop at their fingertips. I've found myself wondering lately if we've become too dependent on electronics. So. while there are some positives there is also the toxic side to our interaction with the digital world. If, like me, you are thinking of having a digital detox I've come up with some tips that should make the transition a little easier... as with anything I will always advice you to take baby steps... after all, life is short and for living! Why give up the things we enjoy? But why not make our quality of life that bit better while you're at it???

1. Make Use Of Flight Mode

WiFi signals interrupt our sleep pattern, which is why you may have heard the sleep with your phone outside the room - this may not be so easy, so why not try switching to flight mode during the night. This makes it so your phone is receiving zero signals and you get to have blissfully quiet sleep without any annoying beeps and buzzing and over time you will notice that your sleep will improve -- this is to do with the fact that there are no electronic transmissions flying near by your head.

2. Reduce

Make use of apps that allow you to clock how much you are using your phone, and aim to reduce by 5 mins each day.

3. Do Not Multi-Task

Make it a rule that you do not eat while using anything with a screen, that goes for TV too. I'll be touching more on this in the next blog, but you want to approach meals in a more mindful way and if you are constantly distracted you will be far more likely to over eat, AND you won't enjoy your food nearly as much.

4. No More Notifications

Try turning off some Push Notifications and Settings. Without your phone constantly pinging you will not get distracted as much and the chance of getting stuck in the endless cycle of scrolling will be much less likely.

5. Become Anti-Social

Remove social media apps or make them more difficult to find. You will be less likely to tap into any social media outlet out of boredom if you have to sign in via the browser or search for the app in your phone. The act of removing it from your 'Home' screen where it is easy to just tap on when you've finished a call or replied to a text message will mean less usage.

One of the best tips I can give, from personal experience the one that has worked wonders for me is setting a rule in place of not scrolling between certain hours. Mine are 7pm - 7am. Not only am I more relaxed when it's time to go to sleep but it also means that I have my very own dedicated 'quiet time' in the mornings when I can gather my thoughts and get ready for the day ahead. Since introducing this rule I have noticed a significant increase in my peace of mind. And you will too.