As our world becomes more and more digital, so does the need for us to periodically evaluate our technology habits. A 2023 reviews.org study found that people check their phone around 144 times a day. And according to Statista, people spend over 3 hours a day online at a PC for activities not related to work or school.

Spending too much unstructured time on any device – whether it be a phone, tablet, or PC – has been linked to both physical and mental health issues, including increased feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.

However, you can foster a healthier relationship with digital technology and enjoy its benefits without compromising your well-being. And in this blog post, I’ll outline 7 tips for doing just that.

1. Reduce your device footprint

Most of us have too many Internet-connected devices that compete for our time and add unnecessary complexity to our lives. Write down a list of your own devices and describe what you use them for. Then analyze that list to see which devices you can safely remove. Following is an example:

• Phone (occasional calls/texts/pics, email, random Googling, 2-factor authentication, social media)
• PC (work/school, email, social media, news, banking, gaming)
• Tablet (reading books, Netflix)
• Smartwatch (I don’t really have a good use for this that my phone doesn’t already do, so I should sell it)
• Smart speaker/virtual assistant (I rarely use it compared to my phone for looking up data, so I should sell it)

2. Track and limit your screen time

Once you’ve decreased your device footprint, determine which non work/school-related online activities you want to have in your life. Then set a reasonable about of time each day or week for each activity and aim to limit yourself to those times. Set hard limits on activities that can easily become time wasters, such as scrolling through news and social media posts (called doomscrolling). You can use your device and usage list as a starting point for this – the following example builds upon our previous one:

• Phone (limit reading and responding to texts and social media to once per day 12pm-12:30pm)
• PC (limit social media and news to once per day 7pm-7:30pm, limit gaming to approx. 1 hour every two days, do any necessary personal banking Sunday mornings at 10:00am)
• Tablet (limit Netflix to Fri/Sat/Sun evenings after 8:00pm)

3. Take breaks when working at a PC

Many jobs and schools require that you use a PC for large amounts of time each day to perform work. However, studies regularly find that humans lose focus on computing-related tasks after 20-30 minutes, and that a 5-minute break is all that is needed to regain that focus.

Thus, try to get up from your PC to perform an unrelated activity once every 20-30 minutes if you have difficulty focusing on a problem or feel as if you aren’t as productive as you’d like to be. This could be getting a bottle of water or cup of coffee, walking around the office, or taking a bathroom break.

4. Turn off notifications

Notifications from any device interrupt your daily activities and encourage you to increase your device usage and dependency. Do you really need to know each time someone likes your social media post, or can you wait until later in the day to check that information?

Disable notifications for all apps on your devices – especially social media apps – unless they are absolutely necessary (e.g., ringtone, Teams messages for work/school). You can disable app notifications within Settings on your tablet or smartphone, or within the app itself on your PC.

5. Turn off all screens 1 hour before bedtime

We often spend too much time on our digital devices at the end of the day, and this can lead to reduced sleep and general fatigue the next day. Moreover, the blue light emitted from device screens can interfere with your sleep patterns.

An easy way to prevent this is to have a set bedtime and ensure that all screens – including PC monitors, phones, and tablets – are turned off or put into sleep mode 1 hour before bed. Enjoy winding down and relaxing before bedtime.

6. Understand which digital content affects your mood

There are many types of information available on the Internet that can be considered unhealthy. News feeds are a good example of this as they often have headlines and content geared to elicit strong emotions to procure sharing and ad revenue.

For each site and social media app you frequent, reflect on how the content within has affected your mood. For those that have negatively impacted your mood, try to modify the settings to restrict certain types of information from being shown in your feed, or avoid it entirely. In general, choose sites and apps that have relevant and quality content from reliable sources.

7. Practice disconnecting

I’m lucky enough to remember a time when people didn’t have the Internet with them at all times, and that makes it easier for me to disconnect from it for long periods of time. Don’t take any digital devices with you when you go out for a hike or run (called naked running). You’ll appreciate the exercise, sights, and sounds a lot more.

Perform this same digital detox for any activity where you want to get the most out of an event, hobby, human interaction, or nature. Enjoy every part of that Aerosmith concert instead of trying to record it on your phone. When you get together with friends for dinner, have a basket that everyone must put their phone in to ensure they enjoy genuine human interaction. We must untether ourselves from those things that prevent us from enjoying the moments in life that matter, and sometimes that includes our digital devices.