4 tips for a successful digital 'detox'

There’s a reason you’re here. Something about your social media or tech use isn’t sitting right.Maybe it’s the creeping dread you feel when scrolling on X, formerly Twitter. Or the stress of nonstop notifications. Or perhaps it’s the guilt of hearing your child demand that you put down your phone and play with them instead. These unpleasant feelings are a sign: Your social media and tech use habits need to change. SEE ALSO: Your attention span isn’t dead — yet. These tips can help restore your ability to focus. While science can’t yet prescribe a plan guaranteed to make a digital “detox” a success (because it’s an emerging field of research), there are promising tips and tricks worth trying, according to experts. It’s worth noting, too, that while we might use the word “detox” as shorthand for restricting social media and tech use to improve mental health and well-being, there is little evidence to prove that excessive use is an addiction on par with disorders like substance or drug use. With that in mind, here are four strategies for limiting your social media consumption and phone use: 1. Identify what’s driving your stress or unhappiness. In studies that attempt to understand what happens when people tune out of social media or more frequently put down their phones, researchers have often focused on a narrow range of apps or behaviors — like deactivating only Facebook or changing notification delivery — so it can be hard to draw universal conclusions from their findings….4 tips for a successful digital 'detox'