Digital Detox: what is it and what are its benefits?

Discover what Digital Detox is and all its positive effects.

Our time is defined as the age of technology: we live connected . In Western society, everyone has an electronic device with Internet access. The strange thing is to meet someone who does not own a smartphone , a tablet or a computer.

Massive access to technology has brought great benefits, both on a small and large scale. We can talk and work with people who are in different time zones, we can know the state of a country thousands and thousands of kilometers from our home. We can visualize the geography and lifestyle of peoples confined in the mountains. We are able to know exactly what is happening in practically the entire world in a matter of a click with our finger .

This is called globalization : a way to better understand the "union" between tribes, towns, cities, countries and continents. We have never been so cybernetically united as now. And yet, we have never been so physically apart as now .

We have created an excessive dependence on technology : we need to see people's lives every hour. We need to share our inner and outer world at every moment. It's like life unfolds on Instagram; the dances were only done on Tik Tok; job contacts were only given through Linkedin; and the best phrases were read on Twitter. Our love for screens is such that we have replaced books with ebooks; the recipes written by reels on Instagram; face-to-face classes for digital classes; makeup for filters and retouching...

All this, used excessively , creates a great void in society : people do things to be seen by others. People are valued based on the number of "followers" or "likes" of their cyber accounts . People are compared to photoshopped and strategically taken. People idealize others based on the fictional success of their digital life and not their real life.

Technology addiction has increased cases of depression, anxiety, stress and apathy . It has also allowed people with relationship problems to rely on social media to develop false friendships. That people with malice and full of anger look for a way to rob their victims. Let the solutions to problems be read in anyone's posts: it seems that what is posted on social networks is truthful and recommendable.

However, you have to be very careful . 90% of the content on Instagram is false: it does not show reality in its 360 degrees. Many of the most influential people have never studied a career. Labor intrusiveness is increasing : people who, because they like them more, have become leaders without professionalism.

The Digital Detox is an ideal remedy to escape all this madness and return to sanity. By Digital Detox, we understand:

• a period of time without access to social networks , and in its most complete version, to the Internet in general (including WhatsApp, emails...),
• a moment of introspection to determine the use we want to give to technology ,
• a moment to connect with our inner world , our real needs and our personal abilities,
• a break to appreciate life in its purest and rawest state.

With the Digital Detox what we are doing is purifying. This helps us to:

• focus our mind , thus improving concentration, awakening inspiration and connecting with the true self,
• avoid distraction and overstimulation , thus reducing the desires and disorders of the ego,
• align our intention with our heart ,
• live a more real and less superficial life ,
• consume quality, professional and truthful content ,
• become familiar with being and reduce doing ,
• enjoying the physical presence of others or a place,
• appreciate life in its purest and most natural state.

So, as we have seen, there are numerous positive benefits that Digital Detox has . From Believe Athletics we invite you to take advantage of this summer to practice it. You can start with one day a week.

Turning off all electronic devices for one day a week can greatly improve your physical and mental health . If you feel capable, you can even try it for a week. If you need help, you can seek the help of a professional. Maybe you have a loved one who wants to join the challenge and together you can have fun with this: having someone's support always makes things easier.

When embarking on a Digital Detox, it is better to go slowly and be compassionate with yourself than to try something excessive and feel frustrated for failing. A conscious and benevolent Digital Detox is better than an anxious and hateful Digital Detox . The question is not to generate more regret, the question is to heal.

And something that can help you is to ask yourself regularly: how much time a day do I want to dedicate to this insubstantial world? If the world is going to end now, is it worth spending so much time on digital? Remember that every minute in your digital life is one minute less in your earthly life . Worth, really? Ask yourself regularly. So you won't regret it. Never.

Mae Knapnougel